PCA/caregiver for queer crip

Hello! I’m a multiply disabled medically complex wheelchair user, artist, and medical anthropology/disability justice scholar turned dropout looking for a patient, resourceful, and trauma informed personal care attendant/aide (someone who helps me with daily tasks i need assistance with due to my disability).

Care experience is not necessary, i will teach you what you need to know, and in some ways experience working jobs within the medical system does not transfer; this job requires a higher level of understanding consent than is required of staff in medical facilities, but I have been told this can be a great job for nursing students.

Pay is 20an hour funded by masshealth through tempus unlimited, number of hours is flexible/spread out between a few people. It is unfortunately fixed and out of my control; this work is invaluable.

i have a lot of allergies so memory and attention to detail are important, as is a willingness to wash hands frequently.

Ability to lift and carry up to 40 pounds as well as bend and stoop and reach is genuinely necessary. I’ve had multiple employees who were less vulnerable disabled people overstate their capacity or refuse to accept that we had conflicting access needs in ways that harmed me. I think is an attractive job for a lot of less disabled chronically ill people, because I’m patient and disability informed, and also sometimes it is not enough for us to both be nice gay people it is a job meeting my basic needs that I cannot meet myself and if you are not able to safely do the physical work it is deeply awful for both of us, actively traumatic for me, and we both sink.

Especially looking for folks who align with body liberation!

About me, in case that helps?

I’m on my third medical leave from college (like a champ!) but I studied medical anthropology, disability studies, and linguistics. I don’t do a lot right now because of my illness but i like fiber arts, music, I don’t do tons of it because I'm not consistently able to meet my own survival needs, but im really passionate about mutual aid, it’s been a a minute but I’ve been wanting to get back into d&d, I think the magicians is the greatest work of television ever written, and I’ve been trained as a clown (minimally) and want to try stand up comedy at some point. I like the library and the farmers market. I like growing food from cuttings from things i bought with snap and feeling cheeky about the value for money. if i had more mobility or could digest vegetables id be learning foraging. I used to take great pride in being a dyke with tools and i very tragically lost my tools and the physical ability to use them

I am presently living in my car fleeing abuse due to the government's intentional decisions to neither give folks on ssi enough money to secure housing nor provide enough access to housing assistance to meet the need. There are no quick solutions, I am working very hard on slow solutions, I can survive this, I have survived worse, this will not be forever. my biggest barriers have been malnutrition and being denied services and support because of other people being freaked out about someone in a wheelchair being homeless.

Thank you so much for your time! Please email with the subject "CL PCA post response", your contact info, and a little bit about yourself and why you are interested in this job.