Hey y’all,
So as some of you know, I’m attending the Femme Conference in Oakland on the 20th through the 22nd. I’m scheduled to do a workshop for mentally ill/psychiatrically disabled queer femmes and also facilitate a caucus for queer femmes of color. I am doing this totally for free, because I feel like I can do some good and help out an organization (the Femme Collective) that promotes positive self-image and community not only for femmes, but for queer folks in general. I have travel expenses, hotel expenses, the expense of transportation to and from the hotel (I don’t drive), food expense, and also the expense of taking time off work and other projects to consider. I don’t make much money as it is, and I’m going to be losing money by going — not that I’m complaining, I think it’s for a good cause!
Please consider donating to get me to the Femme Conference and help me help them!
In addition to helping me support the Femme Collective, you’re also enabling me to work on adding valuable content here (ad-free, I might add) and at I Fry Mine in Butter, work on the anthology (submit, submit, submit!) AND facilitating my burgeoning work with mentally ill adolescents. The Femme Conference workshop is just a jumping off point. I’m purchasing supplies (on my own dime), creating materials (on my own time!), and shaping a presentation/group session for severely mentally ill teens in psych hospitals and residential treatment facilities. I’ve got a letter of recommendation from a highly regarded psychiatrist/psychopharmacologist to do this. I’m not going to get paid much if at all in the beginning, but it’s really important to me to reach out to these kids because I was one of them, and I want to share the coping skills I’ve learned (REALISTIC coping skills) and show them that you can make it out of your teens in one piece.
I’m asking for $1000 (what I estimate the total cost will be of my trip) by August 16 20 — if 100 of my visitors just gave $10, my goal would be met. I’ll keep y’all updated on my progress with the workshop program.
Thank you so much for your comments and support. My readers really do mean a lot to me, y’all keep me going.
P.S. I’m blogging at Bitch now, so my posting has been irregular. But I promise to update more once I get settled in and get closer to finishing the workshop presentation. I miss you all!
