<div><strong>EDDIE REY- long time community activist needs OUR Help.</strong>
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<div>For over 2 decades our community has been able to count on EDDIE REY for his activism and leadership. <strong>He is always volunteering and never saying no to any organization, cause or person needing help.</strong>
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<div>Whether he was protesting for GLBT causes at the Supreme Court, serving as a LEADER in our community, bringing us news through our community newspaper- LGBTQ SAN DIEGO COUNTY NEWS, representing us and our community abroad, or welcoming us to Rich's Nightclub, <strong>EDDIE REY has always been there for us. </strong>
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<div><strong>Well now EDDIE REY needs our help! </strong>
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<div>As many of you know, EDDIE REY was one of six victims from the drive-by gel pellet shootings that targeted four LGBTQ bars on May 18, 2024. Police are investigating these attacks as a possible hate-crimes and have arrested one person for a similar attack, but <strong>EDDIE REY'S shooter is still out there- despite a </strong><a href="https://www.sdcrimestoppers.org/cases/182-suspect-s-wanted-for-hate-crime-incidents" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>$2000 reward from Crime Stoppers’ Hate Crime Fund</strong></a><strong>,</strong> which I founded in 2006.
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<div>Unfortunately, <strong>EDDIE'S injuries are the most severe—he was shot in the eye. In this aftermath he was diagnosed with P.T.S.D. and Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder and is now HOMELESS.</strong>
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<div><strong>Yes, you read that right. EDDIE REY is now HOMELESS.</strong>
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<div><strong>This fundraiser is to help EDDIE and his family manage his treatment, housing, and other expenses outlined below.</strong>
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<div>Many have seen the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0_hIbhjIFc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>graphic videos of the shootings</strong></a><strong>.</strong> They are difficult to watch, <strong>however what the video doesn't show is the crippling anxiety, depression, isolation, and intense sense of detachment that has consumed EDDIE REY'S life since the attack. EDDIE REY is struggling and suffering from those and other more serious symptoms.</strong>
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<div>Since being shot, police and paramedics have been called five times to EDDIE REY'S home or work, making it clear that <strong>his emotional, mental, and spiritual injuries are far deeper than anyone anticipated.</strong>
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<div><strong>PTSD is a mental health condition</strong> that is triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. <strong>EDDIE, like others with PTSD, has experienced symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, feelings of anxiety, sadness, fear, and anger.  </strong>  
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<div><strong>For EDDIE REY, every night that he went back to work was challenging. </strong>He often called in late. He reacted to stressful situations in ways that were unlike him. He lashed out at loved ones. And <strong>he constantly complained that "a switch in my head is being turned on and off, and I can't control it."  We now know that feeling is </strong><a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20355215" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder</strong></a><strong>. </strong>
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<div>In order to avoid reliving this traumatic event, the intense sense of detachment became a coping mechanism for EDDIE REY, <strong>causing him to disconnect from his thoughts, feelings, memories and sense of identity. Even more shocking was EDDIE'S inability to recognize himself in pictures taken prior to the shooting.</strong>
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<div><strong>People with PTSD will avoid anything that reminds them of the original trauma or things that could trigger their symptoms.</strong> Understandably, when EDDIE REY returned to his job as VIP HOST stationed outside of Rich's- the world around him came to a crashing stop.  
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<div><strong>"POST" traumatic stress disorder can not be treated when you continue to relive the trauma. </strong>In order to seek treatment, EDDIE REY had to leave his job, and put his life and business on hold so he could check into a mental and behavioral health treatment center.
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<div><strong>Sadly the safety nets that were supposed to help EDDIE REY have failed him and we are now stepping in to get him the urgent help he needs.</strong>
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<div><strong>Filing errors that were out of EDDIE'S control have resulted in delays for critical treatment and the disability income he needs for housing and living expenses. </strong>
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<div>EDDIE REY is slowly coming out of these challenges, but his dissociative episodes triggered a belief that he was camping, when the reality was that EDDIE had been living out of his car at beaches and local campgrounds. <strong>The realization and the recognition that he is HOMELESS has not been easy for EDDIE REY to comprehend or accept.</strong>
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<div>Through group and individual therapy he has reached a point where he understands what has been happening and is willing to accept and ask for help. 
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<div><strong>We know this entire experience - from the shooting to becoming homeless- will be a lifelong journey in healing for EDDIE, but he deserves to know he’s not alone.</strong>
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<div><strong>With support of his family, we have stepped up to help EDDIE REY begin this new chapter of his life. This page was set up to help raise a support fund for EDDIE REY'S ongoing treatment, housing and living expenses, transportation, and advanced mental health therapies, in addition to a pre-scheduled surgery which EDDIE has had to postpone as a result of this incident.  </strong>
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<div>With the help of <strong>The San Diego LGBTQ Center, Stepping Out, and other organizations- EDDIE REY is getting the help he needs and has moved into a temporary safe place. </strong> He is receiving 2-5 hours of group and one-on-one mental health therapy- six days a week.<strong> But he has been informed that he will need additional, more specialized treatments,</strong> including the high likelihood of an 8 to 45 day residential mental health treatment center. If this happens <strong>EDDIE will also need support for the care of his emotional support dog- COOKIE.</strong>
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<div>EDDIE REY is seeking alternative treatments like art therapy, equine/animal-assisted therapy, and <strong>ketamine infusion therapy-- a promising new therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD and major depression. Ketamine therapy, though showing great success, is not yet covered by EDDIE'S personal insurance, and the costs are high.</strong>
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<div><strong>EDDIE REY recognizes he has been unresponsive to many and we ask that you give him grace- this is a symptom of PTSD</strong> and it is best for him to limit his exposure to stressors, mainstream news, and to keep his social engagements limited before returning to the social activities and engagements which he has loved being a part of.
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<div>EDDIE has been fighting this battle as best he can, but no one should have to fight alone. Now, it’s our turn to be there for him. Anything you can contribute will ease the financial burden for us, his family, and more importantly- it will give EDDIE REY a fighting chance to regain his life. <strong>We are asking for your financial help, your prayers or intentions, and your good energy for EDDIE REY'S recovery. </strong>
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<div>This page is currently set to a $12,500 goal but we will continue to adjust the goal until we hit $25K. These initial funds will only cover his immediate mental health treatment and housing. He will require additional support that puts this goal closer to $25K. Any funds raised beyond our goal will be donated to several organizations that have provided EDDIE REY support during this challenging chapter of his life, including- <strong>The San Diego LGBTQ Center, Stepping Out, BASD's Pantry, The Rob Benzon Foundation, The Imperial Court de San Diego's Benjamin F. Dillingham III Community Grant, and Crime Stoppers San Diego.</strong>
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<div>Thank you for reading, for contributing, and for keeping EDDIE REY in your thoughts.
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<div>Get well greetings and postcards can be mailed to EDDIE REY, P.O. Box 34664, San Diego, CA, 92163.
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<div>With love and gratitude,
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<div>Eddie's Family, and friends- Nicole Murray Ramirez, Big Mike San Diego, and Cookie.
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<div>P.S. If you are interested in supporting EDDIE by becoming a co-host of this fundraiser, or are a business or non-profit and would like to donate towards increasing the reward fund in Eddie's case, please call or text Nicole Murray Ramirez at [phone redacted].
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Oxean Eddie Rey’s PTSD Fight Is Our Fight!

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