Hello everyone! Our heads still aren't above the water after our heating troubles from last winter - quite literally, since our basement is now flooding because of the snow melting - and it's never easy for me to bring this up, but we could really use some help. We've been without heating for two whole months now because of this!
Thank you!
xx Sophie
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Four years ago, my husband and I moved into a crumbling historical rural schoolhouse near the Arctic, with the intent of turning it into an art residency for queer and trans artists. We actually welcomed our first artist guests last year! This was going great, until the heating bills literally doubled in 2022 because of the geopolitical situation. To add to this situation, our basement flooded twice last year, destroying our furnace and drying up our savings.
Then starting last December, a record-shattering cold wave paralyzed our country and more specifically our region, which recorded some of the coldest temperatures on the planet, for several weeks. At the same time, the radiators of our old house that dated from the 70s decided to give up. We had to get new ones installed in emergency, to avoid further tragedies.
For the past few weeks, as the sole provider for our growing family, I've been trying to make up for these events by pulling all-nighters, scraping pennies and trying to sell as many books as I could. However, even with time extensions, bill deadlines are approaching and I must face the fact that there is no way we can save our home without some help.
(...)
Despite barely paying a living wage, we believe in the work that we do. The well-being of trans and queer communities is what drives us to create art and share our spaces. Our wish is to keep creating despite these events. However, this might not be possible if we lose our home.
