Help Nicole Sparkle shine (medical care and bills)

I have the privilege of loving Nicole Rice (aka Sparkle). She is a wonderful, sweet human that brings light to my life daily. Unfortunately, she has dealt with medical issues since birth, which have been flaring up this year and presenting themselves in new ways. Nicole's savings have been virtually wiped out from recent medical care, receiving less income on disability, and with our current economy and gas prices. So I am creating this fundraiser in the hope that through family, friends, and kind strangers, we can help Nicole get back on her feet to make ends meet and continue receiving medical care until she can work full time again and build up some emergency savings.

Nicole is a bay area local and has spent her whole life in the east bay and San Francisco (aside from a hiatus in LA working at Disneyland!). The loving Rice family adopted her very soon after birth, and she became the baby of five kids. She currently works for a small foundation construction company where she works diligently, often more than 40 hrs/week, and enjoys helping people make their homes and businesses safer. Being a die-hard Bay-destrian, Nicole loves the Warriors with her whole heart, in addition to the Giants and 49ers. Another love is Disney and all things Mickey, Minnie, and Eeyore. She became a cat mom last year and has loved learning about and caring for her wild kitty, Chance.

Her medical issues stem from being born on drugs. Her symptoms include muscle cramps, spasms, back and abdominal pain, fainting, tremors, seizures, inability to stand or drive, nausea, and insomnia, among other things and consequences. She has also struggled with endometriosis. Nicole has had to go on disability leave and earlier this year had exploratory surgery. While the results were good (highly reduced endometriosis), more questions were found than answers, and no new diagnoses or complete treatment plans have been identified. She will also need to continue endometriosis treatment to keep it under control, and is starting neurological and brain therapy appointments again soon. At the moment, there are 7 different doctors as part of her care team.

State disability does not pay at regular intervals or amounts; it is much less than her regular working paycheck (and is already low income for the bay area anyway). Nicole never knows when she will receive a payment or how much. Additionally, her application for food stamps was rejected since she receives money from the state, even though it's not enough to buy food most weeks. Nicole is struggling to figure out how to get by and can barely pay monthly bills and rent. Not to mention, rent will go up by $100/month on August 1st, her specialist appointments are 30 min away at a facility out of town, and even when she is back at work, she will not make as much money as she used to due to medical restrictions making her part-time.

The last year has taken an enormous toll on Nicole, obviously physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Pinching pennies has made it difficult to see friends and family (and for us to see each other being a long-distance couple) or attend even cheap or free events for a happiness boost. She would never create this gofundme on her own, so I am starting it on her behalf (with permission) because right now, we have to use every option to help out my beautiful partner! That being said, donating directly to Nicole via Venmo is a little more preferred since gofundme has to take a cut for themselves. If you can, please donate directly using @nicole-rice-6

I've put the goal at $17,500 just as a dream supplement to disability payments to help cover basic expenses for a few months and pay off the medical debt she has been accruing. Any amount received will be so appreciated and help pay for necessities. Here is a breakdown of how I figured this:

Total: ~$14,730

I've rounded up to account for fees that gofundme has to take out, and as you can see, this assumes minimum costs for several areas. Again, it's preferred to donate directly via Venmo @nicole-rice-6 to avoid your donation being reduced.

#helpSparkleshine!

Nicole with Dad and brothers.

Nicole and lifelong best friend in the happies place on Earth!

Nicole and cousins at her birthday party.

Our little family (when Chance was just a baby)!