[pcthrowaway]

I think we should just ignore everyone suggesting she get treated for substance abuse issues.

We don't know her situation, and even if she is using drugs, there are many functional addicts.

If she's capable of working, it'd be nice if someone in the area offered her something like contract to hire, where they could then see for themselves if she's capable of succeeding in the field (I am in Canada and on the verge of struggling myself, despite also not having substance issues, otherwise I'd offer to help).

The real problem right now is a lack of a social safety net, in addition to hiring being incredibly tight (and she's not exactly in a tech hotspot). Trans people also face a lot of discrimination and often are trying to overcome multiple life challenges simultaneously, which compound.

Have you considered reaching out to some of the very prominent trans software bloggers who might be sympathetic and also be able to offer better resources?

I don't feel like it's appropriate to name names, but if you'd like I can email you the blogs of a few people who would certainly be widely recognized as staff-level, and might be open to helping your friend.

edit: since you mentioned she is currently housed at least, it will be much easier for her to turn things around if she is able to find work before that situation changes. Though this is really complicated by her having no work device right now. Can she get a loan to tide her over for the next few weeks? If not, maybe she'd be comfortable setting up a gofundme or similar?

Getting back on her feet will get much harder if she has to do it while homeless.

[freemint]

Both i and her have an effective social network reach of 0. I had considered asking for help but i have no idea where even to start. If you have any suggestion please email me. You seem to have a good grasp of her situation. Any lead would be helpful.

If you haven't seen i wrote about some code i was she had on her GitHub and we discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35672617

[bequanna]

> The real problem right now is a lack of a social safety net

Is that the real problem here? Unemployment in the United States is incredibly low and those who want to find good work for good pay are able to.

[pcthrowaway]

I'm assuming you haven't seen people struggling with discrimination, especially trans people in conservative cities, trying to find these easy-to-get jobs which offer "good work for good pay". If you have suggestions of actual places in Chattanooga that would hire her yesterday and start payments in a week, I'm sure OP would be happy to pass that along.

Otherwise, please consider how trans people might be limited by obstacles that cis people don't even realize exist.

[bequanna]

Quite the leap.

I’m not sure why the original comment even mentions this person is trans. How is that relevant to the situation other than to trigger the “victim” alarm in some people’s minds?

Also, how presumptuous of you to assume I’m cis. Be better.

[freemint]

Because it is relevant in a bunch of ways.

- It obviously increases the burn rate due to increased medical expenses which makes certain income thresholds to qualify for help harder to reach.

- It together with a comment suggesting parental abuse means she can't rely on family support

- There is discrimination against trans people. If xy% of people despise you because of your existince is a challange to their god and on those people decides how many hours you get that obviously has an impact.

I must congratulate you. Your cynical engagement both claiming this to maybe being a scam, acting worried for me and yet being very motivated to argue political points might have gotten this post removed from the top of AskHN where it was some time before you posted. I hope when i wake up that my genuine ask for help and advice got a few more eyeballs.

[thiht]

Because the situation for trans people in the US is horrific and only getting worse and worse each week. Last example in date: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

If I were trans in the US I’d honestly just flee the country before the next elections, and start over somewhere else.

[pcthrowaway]

> Also, how presumptuous of you to assume I’m cis. Be better.

What I said:

> I'm assuming you haven't seen people struggling with discrimination, especially trans people in conservative cities

is only presuming exactly what I said, not even presuming that you're not trans, because that (on its own) is actually besides the point.

In the interest of keeping this more in the spirit with the HN conversation guidelines, I'll just say that I'd appreciate if you engaged with what I actually said instead of deflecting.

[t-3]

Unemployment numbers are among the most gamed in government, they are totally unreliable if you're trying to get a realistic view of anything. It's really hard to find work that pays above burger-flipping without a college degree or network in most areas, especially in tech fields. With the current downturn and layoffs combined with remote working craze, competition is higher than ever and it's much harder to get a foot in the door.

[danielvf]

Chattanooga has a 3.3% unemployment rate. By comparison Berlin, Germany has 9.1%. It's definitely an super hot labor market right now.

[pcthrowaway]

I'd wager the unemployment rate among transwomen in Chattanooga is higher.

I think in the U.S. in general trans people have double the unemployment rates of cis people. I imagine that's higher in Chattanooga, and higher again for transwomen, but I couldn't find any studies here so let's just agree that 3.3% likely is not indicative of the unemployment rates of specific marginalized groups.

[t-3]

Are the numbers actually comparable? The US does not calculate unemployment in a straightforward or honest fashion.