Support Roma-Jerome's Fight for Health & Stability!

MUTUAL AID SUPPORT REQUEST FOR HOUSING, MEDICAL BILLS & PRESCRIPTIONS:

GoFundMe: This page!

Venmo: @SailorScarletLetter

PayPal: @SailorScarletLetter

Zelle: See QR Code

Buenas! My name is Jerome (aka Roma-Jerome/RJ) and I am a queer, disabled, Black educator, history nerd, and organizer that has been living with Long COVID/PASC (Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS Coronavirus 2) for nearly 4.5 years. As I search for new remote job opportunities, I am raising funds to pay my rent, outstanding medical and utility bills due to the high cost of seeking Long COVID treatment & evaluations, my prescriptions, and just trying to survive in a society where our institutions continue to prioritize profits and politics over people and planet!

I left the workforce in November 2023 to deal with my worsening PASC conditions and subsequent acute SARS2 reinfection that eventually left me mostly bedbound for several months and unable to speak verbally for extended periods of time. I have recently made some strides with my physical mobility (for example, I can now occasionally walk to the pharmacy in person and can take showers at least 2-3 days per week on average) and can also speak verbally again for longer periods with less intense neurological pain!

But as a result of multiple airborne SARS2 infections in an environment where breathing clean, healthy air in well ventilated spaces during an ongoing global mass death, mass disabling event is largely considered a privilege and not a human right, I now have a number of new and developing health conditions. This includes Chronic Sphenoid Sinusitis, asthma, sleep disturbances (STILL struggling to get my CPAP machine after being diagnosed with Sleep Apnea!), chronic fatigue and pain, post-exertional malaise, and recurring GI related vomiting, nausea, & weight loss; I am now also a glaucoma and autoimmune disorder suspect, among other issues. SARS2 has also SEVERELY impacted my pre-existing ADHD and overall executive functioning in a number of profound ways.

However, I have still been very active in efforts to dismantle SARS2 denialism, minimization, and structural oppression and holding our institutions accountable. After all, WE keep each other safe! I have partnered with other organizers and activists in my community and beyond to fight for Clean Air Schools & Communities, accessible and equitable healthcare, the educational entitlements and legal rights that children and young people living with Long COVID and/or other disabilities & chronic illnesses have (such as under the U.S.’s IDEA Individuals With Disabilities Act & Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973), global vaccine equity & access to air quality monitoring, free masks/respirators and acute COVID-19 testing, education on aerosol transmission & mitigation, and improved building ventilation & filtration systems. Centering marginalized and oppressed communities, including people of the Global South and Global Majority, people from low-income backgrounds, our elders and young people, has been a key part of the intersectional disability justice work that I have been doing and will continue to do as we work to Eradicate SARS2!

I have SO much more to share (I am a TALKER for sure!) but for now, I want to thank each and every single one of you for reading this, listening, caring, sharing, and/or donating!!! Every little bit helps, but If you are not in the financial position to donate right now, no pasa nada!! MUCHAS GRACIAS A TODOS and thanks again for the support and love!!!

(P.S. I am currently looking for remote or possibly hybrid work opportunities, especially in the education sector or disability justice; if you have any leads or have questions for me, please let me know!)

Best,

RJ/Jerome

(The proud “Scarlet Letter”/respirator user!)