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brinconvenient · 10 months

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This is a long tale, but I appreciate you taking the time to meet my friend Chris and help her out if you can.

TL;DR: my friend, an elderly queer woman I met when she was homeless just lost everything she owns in a fire at her first permanent home she had after becoming unhoused. Luckily, she and her cat were not home at the time. Please help if you can by donating or boosting.

This is a queer elder who needs our help. I'm hoping tumblr can come through for her

https://www.gofundme.com/f/fire-took-chris-baileys-home-they-need-help

Here's the long tale:

A friend of mine just lost everything except herself, her cat and the clothes on her back to a fire at her apartment (her first after being homeless for years) on Friday. We learned yesterday that nothing from her apartment is recoverable. Please help!

(Long post with cute cat pictures behind the readmore)

I met Chris one Sunday afternoon after driving past her three times as she sat on a bench outside our local library after closing. I stopped to ask if she needed a ride, and found out that she was homeless, staying in motels when her SSI came in and on the street when it ran out.

As the years have passed, I've learned a lot about her. Despite her parents kicking her out at 17 when she was outed to them as gay, she went back to school and became a social worker, working in several Chicago hospitals through the 80s and 90s, and, like a lot of queer women in the caring fields at that time, tended to and provided comfort and care for (among others) so many gay men, young and old, living with and dying from AIDS, from the earliest days of the disease through the availability of the triple cocktail and to the brighter days of hope.

Through it all, she had relationships with women in a time where that was something that wasn't always safe to do. Some were good, some bad, and some resulting in her losing nearly everything, but she struggled through. She quit social work in 99 or 2000 when her mom got sick and passed away, and then stayed out of the workforce to care for her dad until he passed in 2006. Those experiences impacted her deeply, and she became permanently disabled during that period, leaving her living on SSI, and struggling with her own mental health. She eventually lost her condo, and bounced in and out of apartments and motels.

When I met her in Sept 2019, I helped her get back into the motel she'd been staying at and bridging her to her next check and then making sure that she could stay there, and reliably get her maintenance meds and start rebuilding her life and credit.

This is her and everything she owned as we left her hotel room for the final time on Valentine's Day 2022.

The cat there is Bailey, her constant companion since they adopted each other in September 2021. They've both been through a lot and are absolutely the picture of "Who rescued whom?"

We started having biweekly dinners and I worked with her creditors and tried to get her credit score back into a good place, and helped her get banked and fixed up with access to the Internet and just help her feel more solid and stable in her life.

Just over 2 years later, in February 2022, we were finally able to get her into a senior independent living apartment, her first permanent home since about 2017. She had no furniture, but with some secondhand pickups and occasional pickups, we got her something resembling a home.

It wasn't perfect, and she had her grumbles, certainly, but it was her home. It was a place that she could launch from to recover and consider moving some place even better, if she chose.

However, Friday, July 14, Bailey had an afternoon vet appointment. Everything was fine when we left, but when we got home, with Bailey in a carrier in the backseat, we were shocked to see what looked like a million emergency vehicles & a whole lot of seniors sitting on the grass.

Chris and Bailey came with me to take my daughter into the city that evening, giving the situation 2 hours to develop and for us to get more information. We heard a few newsradio updates and saw this story on abc7, getting the sinking feeling that that balcony looked too familiar.

When we got back from the city, we were able to drive around the back of the building and confirm that this was her apartment.

We were able to get back to the building on Tuesday and get into the apartment to get her medications, but everything is water damaged from the sprinkler system (with all of its stagnant water) and the firehoses. All her furniture. All her clothes. Her bed. Her degrees. Gone.

Everything she owned is gone. She literally owns less now than when she was homeless. She's despairing and trying her best to keep it together, but she's lost so many homes in her life, going back to when she was 17 and her parents found out she is gay and kicked her out.

This all feels like too much. Please help. Please donate what you can, and share where you're able.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/fire-took-chris-baileys-home-they-need-help

#queer #queer elder #lesbian #lgbtqia #fire #schaumburg #apartment #lgbtqia+#unhoused #homeless #Please help #crowfund

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lpfreakification · 5 months

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2023 Schaumburg Adventure Post!

I'll actually start from the Plan Of Attack I created this morning.

1. Left the house with money given to me from dad.

The default outfit I wore all day (with my lovely assistant + husband, Axel ☺️)

2. Recognized a store clerk I haven't seen in a long time. He was the one who taught me how to buy gas from the counter. ("$.. on pump #... please") I told him how lots had changed the last time I saw him. He asked if I still worked at my old job next door. That was one of the big changes I mentioned: me leaving my old job of 6 years to focus more on school + how I'll be quitting my other job in January b4 school starts again. After a nice bit of catch-up, I filled up my car + went to Target.

3. I was able to stop at Target to find what my brother's fiance wanted: a pair of dumbells. I quickly texted my brother if this brand + set was ok. Thankfully, he answered fast + got a yes. Yes! Not knowing I'd find a set like this, I didn't grab a cart (had a basket instead) + was hauling this with my two arms thru out the store 😵‍💫

Also managed to grab an item of food my brother wanted for Xmas + some grapes for the kickboxing Xmas party.

It was quite an endurance test bcuz an old lady was in front of me. I kept thinking to myself, "damn, I should've grabbed a cart if I knew I'd find this. At least, this is a good workout for my arms."

I was able to set these dumbells on the ground as I waited in line. I lightly scooted my basket as I carried the heavy item 😵‍💫 I was telling myself that if someone asked how I'm doing, I'd say I'd be sweaty.

As I was approaching the next available self-checkout, that's when my coworkers from my old job ran into me with their Starbucks drinks. Hugged one fully + the other carefully bcuz she had Starbucks drinks. Ha, I was right about a person asking how I was doing, + my response was being sweaty 😆 One grabbed a cart for me as they saw my struggle. Once she came back, I was catching up as I was scanning my items. My Plan Of Attack, the coffee for the guys back at my old job, Genshin (Sumeru is gonna be long), + their recent cheer conference 😄 I finished scanning + paying as we parted ways. That encounter cheered me up, too (my reason is on IG Stories). I can't help but remember how much my favorite manager loves his pink drinks X3

(Quickly doodled my favorite manager from memory)

(He's still such a bad@$$! 😍)

4+5 I'll skip bcuz I got everything at Target + used the atm drive-thru. Nothing eventful.

6. I showed up at 1:30. It was locked. I definitely had a good time jamming in the car to Linkin Park's Faint, Cascada's Every Time We Touch, + The Killers' Somebody Told Me as I waited. Didn't take too long until the owners came to open the door + set up. I set down the grapes + jammed to Linkin Park's More The Victim.

[Time out, I need to drown out the sound of praying with loud Linkin Park >B( *does that, starting with A Place For My Head* Much better 😊 Ok, time in 😚]

They were setting up the majority of the time I was there. I set a timer to 45 minutes so I wouldn't lose track of time. I mostly (happy) danced to whatever music was playing in the bg, whether hard or soft.

The best part during my short time was that there was one of my kickboxing classmates dressed up as Santa! He brought some homemade habanero jam with cream chese + crackers. Normally, I don't like spicy foods (despite having a "spicy" personality at times). However, I was a bit curious. I had a bit of heat kicks underneath my tongue. I surprised myself that I liked it??? The Santa classmate was right: my mouth wasn't on fire, + no steam coming out of my ears 😂 He looked like he was happy that I liked it.

[Aw, my speaker died. Faint was next 😭 *listens* Ah, silence. Good.]

There was another dip made from Little Debbie's cakes + Nilla wafers. It was too sweet, even for me, the one with the sweet tooth. Strangely enough, the Habanero jam was more memorable. The sweet dip's 2nd

As I hung out, I checked my phone + saw my very pregnant sister wanting me to pick her up on the way back 🙃 It's not bcuz it's far (it's actually close), it's my fear of driving with passengers ever since... *flashback* My car accident in February 2021? 2022? (the day Russia invaded Ukraine). Long story short, bad weather + got hit in the passenger side, totaling my previuos red car. I was lying to the internet about "losing my car" + kept that a low profile so they wouldn't freak out as much + didn't want unwanted attention. I was like, "Are you sure???" (Clearly still traumatized)

It's too bad people were trickling in by 2:30, aka the time I had to leave. So I said my goodbyes, + left with a plate of food.

(It's a good thing I bought + brought the grapes, or else it would've looked bad, grabbed food, and + not contribute anything)

7. And so, I drove to my preggo sister's place, I switched to the passenger side, + she drove my car back to the house. What a relief! I was so scared of driving a passenger, let alone, the very pregnant sister.

8. The main event: the Schaumburg Adventure Post!

We didn't enter thru our usual entrance at the now-extincted Sears. Instead, it was like the opposite side of the mall. It's like standing in one place + starting to spin around in circles in one direction + then spinning around in the other direction. It feels weird.

1st store I saw was SuperDry. I fell in love with this store when I went to Washington DC in 2018 😍 The hoodie im wearing rn is fron SuperDry. I managed to try on two sports bras. The size 8 is a tight fit but good for keeping my chest in place. The size 12 is a comfortable fit but doesn't secure my chest as well. The siblings weren't too sure of the initial sizes, henced the reason i tried them on. As i was leaving, the preggo sister arrived. I showed her the two items i tried on. Needless to say, I got both.

Urban Outfitters, i got my other brother a candle that says "Magic S***" + two Pokémon card packs.

Next, Sephora. *c+p Twitter post*

"The line at Sephora is incredibly long. It's not my favorite place to be in, considering how anti-makeup I am. I'm near halfway there only to find out that someone already got the thing but didn't mark it as "Bought."

F*** it, imma buy it anyway so my time won't be in vain." - 12/3/2023 4:50 PM SUNDAY...

(I also bought an item online for her, just in case >BP)

Vera Bradley - a black lanyard strap for myself

Too Cool - An Aggretsuko pencil case + more OHSHC stickers 😍

Box Lunch - initially, I bought two bib sets for my future nephew. As soon as I got out of the line, The Blue Eyes White + Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragons pins caught my attention. I went back in line + bought them 😅

Hot Topic - I was looking at the band shirts. Obviously, I was looking at the Linkin Park shirts. I was like, "I already have that one, I already have that one, + oh? I don't have this one o.o" It was the One More Light shirt. What a find for me! And I got loads of pins/buttons. I resonate with the big crying corgi one the most (bcuz this was when I was running low on money).

Mall - I found this timeline that wasn't here b4 😮 Apparently, it's this mall's 50th anniversary. Woah.

I took pics so I could read it later, + there's also a link to all these pics + history:

https://click.simon.com/woodfield-mall-50th-anniversary-lp

Needless to say, A LOT has changed. I think I'll make a separate post on that. I think.

The mall was close to closing.

I traveled towards the old Sears entrance. The Rainforest Cafe is now Peppa Pig World 😢 The 1st floor of the now-extincted Sears is closed off. The 2nd floor has been replaced with "Primark". Combining descriptions of what my sister + dad say, it's like a Kmart version of Forever 21? Idk, I can't really wrap my head around it bcuz it's so new, the vibe + fashion isn't for me, + I'm still holding onto my childhood nostalgia of Sears.

I quickly visited F.Y.E. nearby. It triggered a memory of buying yaoi Manga there. Thus triggered another memory of being a bookstore that had so much more yaoi Manga. My memory has served me correctly of where it was located, but it was too late.

(Noooooooooo!!!!!) The mall was closing up at this point, so some stores were already closed 😞 I could've redeemed myself to get Heavens official blessing, but then again, I haven't touched my yaoi Manga all year long 😨

As I was making my way towards the exit, one last store caught my attention.

Ximi-V - This was where I went ballistic with pen shopping. I had trouble with paying bcuz I didn't have enough, so I put some things back + reduced my purchase by half. In short, I bought 8 pen refills, 6 pens, a multipen, + a mini Zhongli mirror ☺️

(I can only fit 10 pics on a Tumblr post so words will have to do)

Of those 6 pens, one of them was a mystery Genshin pen. Apparently, I grabbed their last one. The character I got was the Raiden Shogun (a very powerful character in the game). A lucky find for me. Although, it looks like I can fit a Zebra Sarasa +/or Pentel Energel ink refill in half of these pens. The barrels look cute, though 😍

I was the last person to meet up with everyone else this time because of how ballistic I was in that last store.

Overall, stores were relocated (like Urban Outfitters), some stores are gone (like where I found the Sora bust last year), + more anime stores are popping up. 🤔 I feel like it'll get overwhelming by the next one or two years. It was a good nice + short visit this time around. Either bcuz we had a short amount of time or bcuz we're getting older, thus getting slower. Oh yeah, there's online shopping, too.

9. We went to City Works to dine. We all had to run to the bathroom b4 we got settled into our seats. The men were hypnotized to the football game on TV, the women were feeling baby's kicks, + I was lost in thought. About my purchases, my plan of attacks, + ideas. Ordered two drinks, my usual amount, + devoured my food. I felt like I wasn't satisfied enough + didn't want dessert. Usually, I drink my 1st drink fast, + my 2nd drink is slow due to the amount of food I just ate.

10. Finally, I will end this post (+ Plan Of Attack) now that I've been home, + been writing this for the past 3 hours 🫠 Time is short. I want to catch up on Genshin b4 I actually fall asleep. I got kickboxing in the morning, too. Ultimate question: How should I go about publishing this to Twitter if Twitter Circles are now gone?

Option 1 - upload link publicly (+ make sure siblings don't see)

Option 2 - dm this to my two favorite mutuals (you guys know who you are 😎)

Option 3 - Figure out some alternative?

Option 4 - don't, + leave it here on Tumblr.

I'll see to this (eventually?)

Nite y'all!

#life #Schaumburg Adventure Post #Schaumburg

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