[OLD, SEE NEW LINK] Help Nate Get His Health Back

We have a new fundraiser for Nate set up, as he needs our help again -- please check it out! https://www.gofundme.com/manage/help-nate-get-his-health-back

My name is Zelle, and I'm raising funds for a dear friend, Nate, to help house him as he goes through the process of getting SSI. Even if you can't personally donate anything, please read on and share this fundraiser - you might know someone who can! Nate is in Los Angeles, and he's physically very unwell; so far doctors have said it could be related to a prior COVID infection or it could be something more sinister like MS. Either way, we need to keep him safe in California until he can get further through the medical system and hopefully come out the other side with insurance and benefits. He is sick, stressed out and needs help.

To be able to access the resources provided by local shelters, which will make a huge difference, Nate can't be on a lease. This means he's stuck either bouncing from shelter to street to shelter -- which is not safe for him, and the shelter system in LA is stretched to its limits -- or in temporary housing. Right now he's in an AirBNB, and his partner has helped negotiate some long-term rates cheaper than the local hostels. This is good, but it's more than we can afford by ourselves.

I'll immediately break down the costs that we're hoping to cover with this GoFundMe and then tell you a little bit more about Nate in case you don't know him as well as I do - I know you would love him!

Each night's stay costs 80 US dollars. This means that for a 31-day stay, the total cost is $2480. Nate is already covered until the 21st, and then he's staying with a friend over Christmas and returning on January 4th.

$2480 will cover January 4th to February 4th.

Another $2480 will cover February 4th to March 7th.

This is a total cost of $4960 to keep him housed until March -- just a few months of guaranteed safety will make a HUGE difference for him. In fact, every donation makes a huge difference even if this goal is not met. Those close to him will be doing our best to try and fill in the gaps financially; getting him to a point where he's independent and healthy is the most important thing. We WILL need help with future costs, so please help us aim high and prove that there's still a real support network for him.

I've known Nate for an incredibly long time, and he's never failed to impress me. He is one of those magical people who never stops caring about the world, even when it tries its hardest to dissuade him. He grew up in eastern Tennessee, and his dream when he's well enough is to move back there -- his old contacts at vocational rehab have said they'll help him return to school and keep studying, so that he can work with the amazing wildlife throughout Appalachia and to help combat the effects of manmade climate change.

His last journey home was a meaningful one, though not a happy one. Nate flew back down in the wake of Hurricane Helene and, despite his disabilities, spent weeks distributing supplies and helping people on the ground. The work was impossibly huge, but he did not give up; he knew that every moment counted and that this was something worth saving.

I have never seen Nate so stressed and so traumatized as he is now. Most days, his situation has left him absolutely battered and he doesn't see a way out of it and back to a better life. The work is impossibly huge. Yet I know that every moment counts and that he is someone worth saving. Please help us!

All funds from this fundraiser will go directly to Nate for his housing. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns, and share this campaign even if you can't personally contribute. It means a lot to us, and you have the chance of making a HUGE difference for an incredible person!

All text below this line is the original text of this fundraiser from three years ago, when we raised money to help Nate get treatment for depression. Feel free to read on to see some beautiful photographs of a beautiful person and to learn more about Nate's history; we can get him to a good place again :) Thank you so much.

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My name is Zelle and I'm raising funds for my dear friend Nate to receive essential care for his depression. Even if you can't personally donate anything, please read on and share this fundraiser - you might know someone who can! Nate has struggled with this very serious illness for as long as I've known him, and after trying just about every medication under the sun (and diligent therapy, of course) it has officially been declared treatment-resistant depression. At this point, we need to try alternative therapies for a chance of helping him thrive.

The next step that is accessible in his area (Knoxville, TN) and affordable-ish is ketamine therapy. In really high doses, ketamine is used as an anesthetic. But at lower, sub-anesthetic doses, there has been increasing evidence to show that ketamine treatments can have serious benefits in treating depression that is otherwise refusing to back down. For Nate, this will be six inpatient treatments under medical supervision, and subsequent "booster" doses if his depression starts to exist remission. You can learn more about this novel type of therapy at the Mayo Clinic site: https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/psychiatry-psychology/videos/ketamine-intervention-and-treatment-resistant-depression/vid-20433351

I'll immediately break down the costs that we're hoping to cover with this GoFundMe and then tell you a little bit more about Nate in case you don't know him as well as I do - I know you would love him!

This initial fundraising goal of $3,000 US dollars is to help cover:

Every donation makes a huge difference even if this goal is not met. Nate is applying through both Community Change Tennessee and the Walnut Care Credit system to see if he can defer payments into chunks that are easier to manage. He works hard - but he has a low income and of course major depression makes it much harder to cover his costs. Any amount OVER the goal can help secure booster treatments that might be needed in the future, so let's aim high!

Nate is a rare treasure - someone who struggles to see the light most days of his life but still is known to everyone around him as a beautifully compassionate man. The holidays are a really tough time for him. A few years ago he spent his Christmas caring for his mother as she passed, so helping set him up for future success in the darkest month of the year is especially essential. He's only 26 and has a pretty cool life ahead of him - he's studying Fisheries and Wildlife Management to further his goals of supporting the amazing wildlife throughout Appalachia and to help combat the effects of manmade climate change. He loves animals, he's ridiculously funny, he's obsessed with Twilight (genuinely? ironically? in the way where he wants to fix it? not sure) and he's one of the most honest, courageous people I've ever met. Despite his depression, and the other disorders that are compounding his suffering, the good in him never seems to fade.

He's a medieval sparring nerd and knows more about how to dye a crest than I ever will. He's sung in a men's choir and he actually sings well, too. He knows how to make his own mead, but always humbly reminds me he hasn't done it yet. He wishes he was a werewolf, but he might legitimately be a werewolf and just not know it yet. His desire to repair the broken world doesn't seem to "turn off" and I hope it never does. When Nate is happy, that happiness pours out of him like a tidal wave and he makes life better for everyone who loves him. It's not about whether or not he can do great things (a living, smiling Nate is all we ask for) but I know that the things he can do when he's well will astonish you!

All funds from this fundraiser will go directly to Nate for his medical use, and this fundraiser was made with Nate's full consent - I'm making it for him because it's hard for him to ask for help alone, and sometimes it's hard for him to see the good in himself. Nate is the kind of guy who judiciously pays you back for a $2 cheeseburger because otherwise it will haunt him, and even allowing his loved ones to start fundraising has been a huge step. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns, and share this campaign even if you can't personally contribute. It means a lot to us, and you have the chance of making a HUGE difference for an incredible person!