Natalie Seidel is a former Navy servicemember and a dear friend. Natalie contracted Long COVID while running the New York City Marathon as part of the Human Rights Campaign's running team in 2022, and was subsequently medically retired in March of 2025. Since that time, Natalie has developed medical complications including fibromyalgia, chronic pain, and myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome). As a result of these complications, Natalie is confined to a wheelchair more often than she is on her feet, and being on her feet causes her to be a constant fall risk, having fallen on average almost once per day in the past year.

The house that Natalie currently lives in with her wife Samantha is three stories and causes severe pain for her to navigate. The doorways are even too narrow for her wheelchair to fit through properly, causing her to be in constant discomfort and often pain simply moving around her living area. Because of this, Natalie and her wife have been trying to use her disability pay as well as VA benefits to qualify for a home that would better accommodate what she needs to introduce some comfort into her life (wider doorways, a first floor bedroom, etc). They were thankfully able to find and be approved for a home that could do this. However, due to bureaucratic complications, her disability pay has been on hold since May, and as a result the institution that approved their home loan is arguing that it cannot be included as a source of income, which has caused their closing cost to skyrocket from about $10k to over $60k, with a deadline of October 16th.

That is where we come in. They have thankfully been able to reduce this number to just over $26,000, and they are struggling to close the gap. Natalie is currently applying to every source imaginable to for assistance, and driving herself crazy trying to figure out next steps. If they are not able to close this gap by the due date, they will lose this opportunity and be forced in a living situation that causes Natalie constant pain and significantly lowers her quality of life. I am asking, as a former servicemember myself, for any and all assistance to help Natalie and Samantha to meet this goal. Any contributions goes a long way, and will be so incredibly gracious. Thank you so much for hearing her story, and for any assistance you are able to provide.