Help Jessica & Leeloo Secure A Stable Roof Over Their Head
Hello friends, I’m Ezra Star (he/they) and I want to introduce y’all to my friends Jessica & Leeloo. They moved to Rockford a year ago and have been struggling with homelessness and unemployment since September. They were laid off and then lost their housing; they haven’t been able to secure jobs after months of interviews. When I met Jessica and Leeloo in October, they were camping in a tent in Rock Cut State Park, without access to full meals and little money for groceries. The LIAM Foundation supported them with a week-long hotel stay, but the LIAM Foundation can’t be the only resource showing up for trans/queer unhoused folks in Rockford. So my mom friend who I live with, Molly, started bringing them meals and inviting them over for dinner.
When Thanksgiving came, we invited Jessica & Leeloo to stay the weekend with us to ensure they were safe from the snow. Jessica & Leeloo quickly became incredible guests–they cleaned the house when Molly’s chronic pain flared up, they helped make the food for our friendsgiving, Jessica repaired the kitchen cabinets, and all six pets calmed down in their presence. Afterwards, we decided that like me, they would stay at Molly’s until they found secure housing. Jessica and Leeloo are physically safe now–what they need is your support in making sure they can move forward in building their life in Rockford. Your donations will be directly used by Jessica & Leeloo to:
- Put down Security deposit on a stable apartment in low income disability housing. To save up, they want to raise $425 by Jan 15 & another $425 by Feb 15, so they have $850 altogether to use.
- Stock up on groceries per month. Grocery goal is $140 a month.
- Pay for gas per month so they can drive their car to & from job interviews. Gas goal is $140 a month.
- Afford medical costs of medication per month. They have to pay for their medications every 3 months, which comes out to $475 at Month 3. Medication goal is $160 a month, so $160 for January.
- Pay their phone bill each month. Phone bill goal is $54.
- Get more clothes that affirm their identities as well as have enough clothes throughout the week. Clothes goal is $15 a month.
- Buy essential furniture & kitchenware (eg bed & bedsheets, chairs, silverware, pots & pans, etc.) for their apartment.
All photos taken by Jessica Marr.
