Correction:
He probably won’t qualify for any financial aid other than the standard student loan amount max/year that ANY student can borrow. And there’s no way that will even put a dent in expensive OOS tuition.
Once this student enrolls in community college, I’d advise the student to be careful to not bite off more than he can chew. Don’t do what my DH did and try to work full time and take a full load of classes simultaneously. Start off with 1 class per term. Then maybe 2 classes max per term.
Yes, it will take him awhile to get through the lower division transfer requirements this way. But it will be more manageable than crashing & burning like my DH did the first couple of times he tried this.
Lots of good advice here, thank you all. I’d rather not address the unhelpful posts anymore.
He started a GoFundMe and I’m so happy to see how many people are donating. Even former middle school classmates (he moved far away at the start of HS) are contributing small amounts.
@IBviolamom Thanks for the update. So glad he started a GoFundMe. This has been heartwrenching. Please let us know how high this climbs. There are probably privacy terms but I wouldn’t mind contributing to kiddo.
@IBviolamom I’ll PM you for a link to the GoFundMe. I don’t have advice to add to the good advice provided in several posts here. Other than to second the importance of making sure he is in contact with a supportive group for LGBTQ students. My 9th grade son is trans, and we are well aware of the problems trans students face, even without having non-supportive parents.
Perhaps someone with contact information for the parents can provide them with links to local or national organizations for parents, such as PFLAG. The parents also need to have statistics about suicide among transgender youth, because I can’t picture a parent would wouldn’t rather have a live kid.
@Ynotgo I sent you a link. Thanks for wanting to contribute.
Believe me, I have thought about sending that info to the parents myself. I do not think they are horrible people. They always seemed like a warm and loving family. I truly hope they have a change of heart.
I am amazed by people’s generosity. I have been texting with him as the night goes on and he is just overwhelmed by the kindness of complete strangers. Really feeling the love and support. <3
“Really feeling the love and support.” Thank you, OP for caring. Odd how some posters can’t crack any empathy, especially during this holiday season. I’m guessing they’ll go off spouting the messages of love and tolerance when it’s ‘them and theirs.’
Very glad he’s getting so much support. I also just saw another opportunity to help students in financial crisis: Sara Goldrick-Rab, Temple U professor and author of “Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream,” has just won the $100K Grawemeyer Award for Education, and is using the entire amount to match donations to the FAST fund, which provides emergency assistance to students at risk of dropping out for financial reasons. I hastily posted that perhaps this fund could help Danny, but on closer examination it’s only at a limited number of colleges so far. Nonetheless, a great matching opportunity - these situations happen all too often. http://saragoldrickrab.com/fastfund/