Billy Hunt needs our help.

Witty, curious-minded, adventurous and caring, Billy is an aspiring poet, though his self-deprecating humor won’t let on to his creative writing talent. He has worked on ranches for most of his adult life, caring for animals and other humans, while living nomadically and writing about his experiences. Billy is a trans man living and working in a world that isn’t always accepting of who he is, but he has never let that stop him from living authentically.

After struggling for many years with illness and being brushed off as depressed/anxious/trans, he’s finally been diagnosed with a very rare kind of “autoimmune cancer” called POEMS. His condition is so rare that hardly any research had been published about it until last year. There is no cure, and there isn’t really a “standard” treatment, it’s mostly steroids and immunotherapy transfusions which don’t really work or stop the illness. There are, however, cases of people who have repurposed existing drugs used to treat other illnesses and have successfully found a cure for themselves. Billy is working with specialists at UPenn to do just that — which could potentially help find cures not just for POEMS/MCD but other rare diseases too - but the next step is…

Billy needs surgery , which is a major known inflammatory trigger, and he’s already barely stable physically (and with a dog to care for). He’s been struggling with housing since leaving his job in Montana last May, and started becoming very disabled very quickly in September. He has no resources saved from his cowboy wages, zero family support, and a scattered friend network that broke apart with covid. His dog had a stroke at the height of crisis in January. On his best days he feels like he has the flu.

Billy needs safety, rest, food, housing, community, and protection, so he can heal and shine light back to the world. At the most basic level. Billy is going through this experience alone. His housing situation is unstable, and on most days he is so ill he is literally disabled.

Please support Billy with whatever you can, and help spread the word to get him on his feet as he undergoes this journey alone. Thank you.