Rachel, a person with Moderate-Severe ME, as well as her only caregiver, Julian, just escaped an abusive and unsafe home, thanks to your support!! However, in order to stay safe, become financially stable, and manage Rachel’s medical needs, they are going to need continued support from the community.

Both Rachel and Julian are in their early 20’s. For almost two years, their abusers forced Julian to live in a room with Rachel, who they had been physically abusing for most of her life, telling him that otherwise they would end her life. Because Rachel has ME, she is very vulnerable, and is dependent on Julian for all of her basic needs. Even though Julian works a full time job, he still couldn’t afford any place for them to live in order to escape safely. This left them both trapped, and forced to endure extreme psychological abuse, including sleep deprivation, gaslighting, threats to their life, extreme degradation and humiliation (sometimes sexually). In addition to the psychological abuse, they didn’t have access to a kitchen or any means of cooking, and they were often restricted from accessing their very small food supply. This caused them both to become malnourished, which has become critical for Rachel, because she’s now severely underweight.

They were forced to live in extreme temperatures, which was damaging to Rachel’s health, and weren’t permitted to have any sort of temperature control, such as a heater. They were often locked inside or outside of the house, only being permitted to leave at certain times, and they were constantly being monitored and filmed with security cameras.

Now, as of July 2026, Rachel and Julian were able to successfully escape and move into their apartment.

In order for them to stay safe and recover, they will need continuous monthly support in to help cover the costs of Rachel’s medical care, to ensure they have access to adequate nutrition, and to ensure they can maintain safe housing.

For now, it is important that their identities remain anonymous for their safety. Their hope is that eventually they will feel safe enough to fully take over running this account and reveal their identities.

About M.E. and Rachel’s other conditions:

ME (short for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), is a complex multi-systemic neuroimmunological disease, that causes neuroinflammation and severely disabling symptoms which are exacerbated by minor exertion of any kind (cognitive, physical, orthostatic, etc) or environmental and sensory stimulus, which can lead to permanent decline and increase in severity.

In addition to having Moderate-Severe ME, Rachel also has several other conditions, such as MCAS, hEDS, POTS, severe respiratory issues, a skeletal deformity, and more, making accessing care much more complex.

ME is a very underfunded and under-recognized disease, making it very difficult to access specialists who are knowledgeable on it and are willing to treat patients. Because of this, all of Rachel’s medical care must be paid for out of pocket, because insurance and Medicaid will not cover it.

They both are very thankful for all of the help they’ve received over the past several months, and all the love, support, and encouragement that the M.E. community and others have given them. They wouldn’t still be here without you. <3