i’m jubilee (they/them) & i’m a mixed-race nonbinary, intersex individual with both elhers-danlos syndrome & fibromyalgia. i’m from connecicut, USA, where i work as a gender-affirming bra specialist & freelance illustrator. i’m an autistic, formerly homeless csa survivor, but just as importantly i’m a leo, i have a huge sweet tooth, & i’m raising funds for my very first wheelchair! for my health, i’m going to be paying for a lightweight manual wheelchair (the karman s-ergo atx) out of pocket, roughly $2,050, since my elhers-danlos diagnosis is still being processed by insurance due to time-consuming genetic testing. in the interest of financial transparency, i’ll break down the individual costs! wheelchair itself: $1,441.00 bottom seat cushion: $72.00 back seat cushion: $189.00 front suspension: $299.00 grand total: $2,001.00 shipping is thankfully free! in the meantime until i can afford to order the chair, i will need replacements for my knee braces. over the last 6 months of use they’ve weakened in their support; seams run stray that can’t be stitched & there’s not much velcro left to their straps. they cost around $25 each per leg, so my first priority will be to buy them (especially since i’ll need them for use even after getting a wheelchair)! so this adds an extra $50, bringing the cost to $2,051.00. which is about 7x more than my own car is worth, but still a solid price for a manual chair outside of insurance. this wheelchair is an investment for my future. this is a necessary security for my safety. this is an affirmation for my remaining abilities. benefiting from a wheelchair as an ambulatory user will promise me less daily pain & dislocations, which prevent me from working full-time positions for work, leaving me with less opportunity to earn money that keeps me fed, medicated, & off the streets. this chair will be physical freedom from a disability that’s taken so much of my life.