The somber story of a gay Atlanta teen kicked out of his home after being outed to his parents touched nearly 200 people, who in two days have donated more than $6,200 to an online campaign to help him.
Steve Bevers launched Nick was kicked out of his home, a GoFundMe campaign, on Tuesday to help Nick, who he describes as an 18-year-old freshman at Kennesaw State who lives in Marietta. Bevers says his family took Nick in and now he's hoping to raise $10,000 to help the student, who was left penniless after his parents apparently kicked him out and seized his savings.
Nick is an 18 year old young man. He is a freshman at Kennesaw State University, and lives in Marietta, GA. This past weekend, someone he knew leaked to his parents that he is gay. The response?
They kicked him out of his home. While he was at work they showed up and took the car that was in their name, even though he made the payments on it. They put all his stuff on the front yard, and told him to come pick it up before it gets stolen.
And to add insult to all that injury, they then used the fact that his bank accounts were "custodial accounts" to take all his funds, taking the considerable amount he had saved up over the past 3 years working as a bag boy at Publix.
In less than 12 hours, the online plea raised more than $800, Bevers posted in an update. Since, he's raised the goal of the campaign at least twice.
I continue to increase the donation amount just because I know it's going to a worthy cause. I just can't explain how absolutely amazed I am at the goodness of everyone. Thank you. Even if you couldn't donate, but just saw Nick's story and your heart went out...Thank you. Even if all you could do was pass it along to others. THANK YOU!
Since, the response has been overwhelming. The campaign has been shared more than 2,100 times and, as of Thursday at noon, nearly 200 people donated $6,260. Several attorneys offered to help Nick, as has a volunteer with Lost N Found Youth, a nonprofit that cares for homeless LGBT youth.
We've reached out to Bevers to discuss the campaign and will update the post if we wear back.
The full pitch from Bevers:
Nick is an 18 year old young man. He is a freshman at Kennesaw State University, and lives in Marietta, GA. This past weekend, someone he knew leaked to his parents that he is gay. The response?
They kicked him out of his home. While he was at work they showed up and took the car that was in their name, even though he made the payments on it. They put all his stuff on the front yard, and told him to come pick it up before it gets stolen.
And to add insult to all that injury, they then used the fact that his bank accounts were "custodial accounts" to take all his funds, taking the considerable amount he had saved up over the past 3 years working as a bag boy at Publix.
He has no home, no car, thus no way to get back and forth to his school, and no money. We have taken him in, and are committed to keeping him on track. But he will need to find a place to live soon (He is welcome on our couch as long as he needs, but everyone deserves a bed to call their own) and a car to help him get around. Had his parents not emptied his accounts, he could have paid a deposit, got into an apartment, and found a new car, but he was left with nothing.
Worst of all, he has felt that the people most responsible for loving and protecting him through anything have turned their backs and don't care where he's sleeping, or how he's going to feed himself.
We're working to show Nick that he is loved, even by strangers. That the horrible acts of some people will not be enough to stop him, and that with the help of people everywhere, he can get through this.
Thank you so much for your consideration. Even if you cannot donate, your thoughts are appreciated.
UPDATE | Nick uploaded a video Thursday explaining what happened, the reaction of his father and step-mom and to clarify that he's bisexual. He also says that police were on hand when he returned to the home to pick up his belongings, with officers threatening his arrest if he came back. "You guys pretty much saved my life," he says about people who donated to the crowdfunding effort.
