David Good
Donation protected
I'm David Good and I'm autistic but I'm very high functioning. I'm on disability and am in the Ticket-to-Work program. I have treatment-resistant depression, chronic migraine, and a neck injury that took away my software development career. I currently can live outside of the hospital because I get 1 or 2 treatments from a local clinic every month. Even ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) does not work. These treatments are $500 cash each. Insurance does not cover these treatments because they are new and experimental. My Mom died this year and left me a little bit of money but eventually, that money will run out and I will have to go back to the hospital. I just can't stand living alone for the first time in my life. It is so hard.
Despite this, I have been able to run Meetup groups since 2014 to do events in my local community. Working with Meetup, we now have 27 groups in 22 cities around the world. Until 2020, I only had a couple of local groups. One group helped people who were Geeks and Nerds find friends and love. 4 Couples got married! Another of my group helped people overcome shyness and social anxiety. Giving back to the community gives me a purpose that keeps me alive.
When November of 2020 hit, my groups could no longer meet in person here in Michigan. It got too cold to meet outside. I started another group and bought a zoom account to do Zoom meetings. This group became the International Friend Connection which has over 21,000 members and groups in 22 cities around the world. We have some of the largest zoom meetings in the world. I did zoom meetings every night during the worse of COVID to save people from depression from lockdown isolation. I even did meetings when I was very sick because people depended on me. A lot of people confided in me, that the meetings saved their lives during those bad winters.
In the summer of 2022, I got invited by the CEO of Meetup to speak at the 20th-anniversary party in Manhattan. I was the only organizer in the world asked to speak. We also did an event for the International Friend Connection while I was in town and people came from many states.
In September, we did another event in New York. This time, people flew in from as far away as Japan and Australia. It was a financial gamble for me to go, but I believe I made some connections that will pay off if I am able to get back to work.
I'm asking for help to pay for my medical treatments. I'm also asking for help to buy a reclining workstation that will allow me to get back to work doing website development. I get in severe pain if I sit or stand at a computer and work for more than an hour. I can lean back and host a meeting but I am unable to do work. I had two neck surgeries this year, and both failed. I will soon meet with the surgeon to see if there is more we can do.
Because I don't feel good about getting anything for free, I can invite you to come to my meetings. I can help anyone make more friends than they have ever had in their entire life. I've found the secrets to having a happy life and can teach them to anyone. I've also helped many people overcome their social anxiety and shyness. Feel free to join us at the International Friend Connection. You can join the New York City group at the link below:
You can see a list of all of our groups at:
If I can get back to work, I can help many more people. My goal is to help 1,000,000 people in 10 years. Any leftover funds will be used to grow the International Friend Connection and help people all over the world.
Organizer
David Good
Organizer
Byron Center, MI
