Klaire Heartfilia’s tribulations and desire to work

Note to Reader:  You are about to read one homeless woman’s account of why she is homeless. This individual consented to the interview and could refuse to answer any question. This is her story; take it as you will.

A transgender woman, Klaire Heartfilia readily admits that her name is a pseudonym loosely based on the fairy tale anime characters based on their zodiac signs.

“I spend a lot of time at the library,” she began, “and I read a lot of stuff about anime characters as well as adult fiction.”

Born in Phoenix, Arizona 26 years ago, Heartfilia said she was abused by her parents and older brothers for “as long as I can remember.” The family relationship deteriorated further in 2015 when she began to identify as a female openly.

“My family made an issue of this; they told me that I was tearing the family apart,” explained Heartfilia.  “They told me that I was perverted, and that is when the threats to my well-being began.”

For the next half-a-dozen years, Heartfilia struggled to find work while also coping with autism and her family members.   “I worked at a number of jobs, but I was not sure how to deal with my autism. I would have neuropathic pains and panic attacks, and on top of that my family situation had turned toxic.”

Heartfilia added that she knows she can appear slow in understanding when someone talks to her. “It’s an information processing disorder,”  she explained, “but it doesn’t mean that I don’t understand – I do.”

In 2020 she left her family and headed to Spokane, Washington, to live with a girlfriend. The relationship seemed to be good until one day her girlfriend abandoned her in 2021.

“I was seeing a doctor about my panic attacks and neuropathic pain, and when I came out of the office to go home, there was no one there to pick me up,” she explained. “I was abandoned.”

Now homeless, Heartfilia lived on the streets of Spokane by day and in various shelters at night. “It was hard, and I lived in fear, ” she stated flatly, “because there are a lot of anti-transgender people in Spokane.”

That situation changed when she moved to Olympia about four months ago.

“The librarians at Timberland have been very good to me, and I don’t have the same fear living here as I did when I was in Spokane,” said Heartfilia. 

She added that when she’s not at the library, she’s out looking for a job. Presently, she stays at the Union Gospel Mission to sleep and eat. “I work with what I’ve got,” she said.

Asked what type of work she is looking for, Heartfilia said she wants to work as a dishwasher and someday as a cook.

“I have a friend here in Olympia who takes me to various places where I can apply for a job; I am hopeful that I can find some work and build a life of my own. That is all that I’m asking for.”

JM Simpson - jm@theJOLTnews.com - is a veteran photojournalist who lives in Lacey.