Help Samantha Humphreys get back on her feet

When I, Lily, first met Sam, she was coming out of two years not working in restaurants, due to an almost unbelievable & never ending list of chronic illnesses which had begun to stack up one by one over the years (hyper mobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome , POTS  [Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome], fibromyalgia, Behcets, GERD, IBS, endometriosis, chronic pain disorder, chronic fatigue disorder, Epstein Barr disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome)  but her tired self was so excited by the prospect of working on a project which resonated with her so deeply: from the wallpaper that was the same as her last job in Chicago, to the fact that the name was that of her mother, that she excitedly accepted the position I offered.

She EXCELLED. However, after being our strongest team member and leader since day one, it became clear her body couldn’t keep up. Periodically we would give her weeks off at a time but eventually we had to realize her body couldn’t take the struggle anymore and her time at the restaurant had come to an end.

If you know Samantha Humphreys, you know she is a living angel. She’s one of the kindest, most giving people you will ever meet. While many of us have been struggling through the pandemic, it has been exceptionally hard for Sam. She has been in a deep struggle with her body and has been unable to work, not just because of the pandemic, but due to her never ending battle with chronic illness & pain. To top this off, she also suffers from anxiety, depression, PTSD, and BPD, and now a lymph node disorder that is in the process of being diagnosed. Though she tries to show up for friends when they need her with a fierce outfit and a sexy cane, she now needs either that cane... or a walker...or wheelchair to get around. However, due to the pandemic she has essentially been housebound since lockdown began and has been unable to see nearly any of her loved ones.

Since moving to Nashville over three years ago, Sam and her husband, Josh, turned their home into a beautiful sanctuary for rescuing meat animals (ie hens, pig, and rabbit) and fostering senior dogs. She is undoubtedly and unflinchingly positive, incredibly caring and beyond capable of providing support to those around her, even as she struggles the most. 

Sam asks for nothing- either as an employee or as a friend, but has been everyone’s number one supporter and protector. Moreover, we have seen the support she continuously gives to anyone who is fortunate enough to call her a friend. The fact that this perpetually independent woman finally chose to share financial struggles with a choice few of her closest friends, indicates the severe hole she is currently trying to dig herself out of. A hole born completely out of terrible circumstances. 

She has been unable to work this year due to her intense immunodeficiencies, nor has she been able to collect unemployment or even get the disability she so desperately needs. Nearly every time someone manages to get her on the phone, it is post a night spent in the ER seeking help or after having spent the afternoon lying on her kitchen floor due to hips, or knees that have dislocated until one of her dogs is able to get her back up. Every.  time. 

Now that she is finally vaccinated, she had started working again at a restaurant to pay the bills. Unfortunately, due to her EDS she has spent the past 3 weeks unable to walk without her walker because her knee is dislocated and cannot be put back in place.

While she is unable to work, the bills keep stacking up. Your contribution would go towards copays, doctors visits, paying down her existing medical debts, food for her rescues, groceries and hopefully soon seeing a new specialist she presently can’t afford. 

This girl gets knocked down, but she never stays down. Please help us hold her up as fiercely as she holds those around her.

Thank you. 

Jo, Kerri, Lily, and Mary