Tonika needs our help!

In a nutshell:

Our friend, Tonika Todorova, faces a diagnosis of breast cancer and so also faces the current US health system while keeping her family and herself going - so at this juncture, help is needed. The wide community of friends, colleagues, well-wishers and debaters have more than one way to help right now!

Outside a nutshell:

It's hard to know where to begin... A diagnosis? Context? An ask? Here goes...

A Diagnosis:

breast cancer; recently diagnosed; still awaiting further tests for more information.

Context:

The cost of healthcare in the United States is insane and, as you all know, we live in a system that is not loving, just, or equal for all. In the face of such circumstances, we must rally together in our smaller, more intimate communities to find strength and support.

And so, we are sending out the bat signal. Help!

Tonika is a true artist and fearless life connoisseur. She is a wonderful mother to 3 amazing boys. Through the years, she has initiated countless adventures and supported innumerable artists in actualizing their creative visions. She is the first friend that many of us would call for just about anything because she will literally do anything for her friends. Many of you have likely done one of the following in Tonika's presence:

Laughed heartily

Expressed yourself creatively

Had an adventure

Spent quality time in a theatre

Discussed this wild world in person or online

Gotten into some form of whimsical and hilarious trouble

Eaten a Tzveta meal and had rakija around a dining room table

Felt incredibly seen and heard

Been grateful for the existence of this unique soul looking back at you

Tonika is a very special person, and if you've met her then you know this to be true. And now she needs our help because she is facing breast cancer with limited access to quality healthcare. While we await the slow pace of the medical system to fully diagnose and advise, life becomes all the more labor intensive and costly, and her ability to work has been dramatically reduced. As a low-income artist who has selflessly helped so many of us, and who is severely under-insured medically--Tonika is now in urgent need of our collective generosity for expensive treatments, medical bills and support for her children. The medical system can be a challenging to relatively hostile place for folks who have little means to navigate.

Tonika is meeting these circumstances with the spirit of trust and gratitude and resilience. Now is our chance to thank her for all the countless ways she has touched our lives; to help her access the care she needs!

An ask:

Will you contribute to this GoFundMe?

Please join the giving team. Whether it is a little or a lot, give based on how the spirit calls you. Resources are foundational to helping Tonika navigate her way back to health and wholeness. Our mission is to gather the resources necessary so she and her children may rest in the assurance and safety that they have a foundation in us; that we can and will collectively provide. This is the first leg of the campaign, as needs will shift in the process. We will keep people apprised of what needs to be done to help.

Thank you, community. For while we may not all know each other directly, we are linked through one Tonika Todorova.

What a beautiful thing.

*Please note: This is a time in which Tonika must process a lot of information while also focusing on her healing and her family. If you want to reach out to her directly with well wishes, please do so! However, she may not respond to them right now. It's all a lot. But know that she will read them and be healed by your love.

If you have questions or want to offer other means of support, please send a message through GoFundMe.

This will be checked by a couple friends in order to keep Tonika from becoming overwhelmed with communication.