Relief for Efrain's Teeth!!

Hey friends, fam, and comrades!

First, we'd like to thank you for taking the time to check this out.

I’m probably preaching to the choir here when I say that all of this should be accessible in the first place.
While crowdfunding for medical necessities isn’t where we should be as a society, well… here we are...

Our dear friend Efrain aka Monkey recently disclosed that he has been struggling with some pretty intense dental issues. (Tooth Crowding, needing extractions, needing braces etc.)
Dental issues are no joke and can cause a lot of pain, discomfort, other physical health issues, mental health issues and overwhelming debt.

Initially, Efrain was not up for a fundraiser when I suggested it because he was worried it might "Take away" from others in need. I finally convinced him that this is serious and it was ok to ask for support!  I'd go on and on about what an asset to many different communities Monkey is and has been, but we all know that all human beings deserve accessible and affordable medical care regardless of their productivity, popularity and behaviors.

The Goal amount is the total of what his procedures will cost so far.  We will update if there are additional fees that he cannot cover alone OR if some fees are covered. We hope to meet this total goal but, really, anything is helpful.  He has been trying to get this covered by insurance to no avail which is why community support is needed.  In order to start the procedures, Efrain needs to put a down payment of $1,200. So that is the first and most important milestone for this fundraiser. Let's get our friend taken care of!

If you're interested in the details of monkey's dental issues in his own words:

"My teeth are crowded so some teeth grew out of place, above or below where they should be. As a result, all of my teeth are shifted to the right and some are rooted crooked. One of my teeth is actually outside of the bone and needs to be extracted. I also have a temporal mandibular joint issue, the joints are uneven and one had some kind of issue so the other side overworked to compensate. Now one of the sides where the mandibular bone slots into the joint is flat instead of round. My body also seems to be treating it or possibly pieces of it as foreign objects and is attacking it and making it worse. I have also heavily ground the surfaces of my teeth and I need this procedure to lighten the stress on all of the teeth and to ease the pressure on the joints. I need to have three teeth removed: my maxillary premolars and my mandibular right canine. Then I need to get braces to bring my top canines down to take some stress off the other teeth. Then I’ll need to wear retainers for the rest of my life"

If we raise money that we don't use, it will be passed on to Monkey's partner who is also needing some dental work and other QTI-BIPOC in need of funds.

Oh and here's an X-Ray of those teeth!

So much gratitude in advance for your support. 

<3