On February 11th, on her 41st birthday, Jae received difficult and unexpected news: doctors discovered a grapefruit-sized tumor in her chest pressing on her heart and lungs. Shortly after, she was hospitalized for a week to undergo extensive testing and procedures including a lung drainage and biopsy, which ultimately led to a devastating cancer diagnosis of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

The tumor was only found recently, despite Jae fighting through years of chronic pain and extreme fatigue with no explanation from the various medical professionals she sought answers from across the city.

Jae has a difficult treatment journey ahead which will involve months of chemotherapy followed by months of recovery. This will require ongoing travel to a specialized treatment center and time away from work to focus fully on her health. She will face tough physical and emotional challenges, as well as financial ones.

Jae is known for her thoughtfulness, generosity, spoiling her friends with her cooking (she's mastered the art of taste in healthy dishes), being an adoring doggie mom (his name is Buko!), and her perfectly timed dad jokes. She has spent her life building community in Chicago and Los Angeles as a DJ and event planner creating lively events and third spaces for likeminded folks to meet. More recently she co-founded a 1000+ person thriving and welcoming pickleball community with 80 regular attendees, called Sapphic Smash, for the LBGTQIA+ community to connect through friendly sport. The battles she has faced each day may not have been apparent from the outside as she has pushed through her suffering and sought to bring joy to others and show up for her community.

We are hoping to ease some of the financial pressure during this time so Jae can focus on her treatment and healing. Funds raised will go towards:

Any contribution, no matter the amount, is deeply appreciated.

For those who prefer to contribute directly, Venmo is also available:

Venmo: @hugsforjae

We are grateful for any support that now surrounds her.

Thank you