November 2021, Jermaine Greaves was misdiagnosed with acne bumps, but was later diagnosed in January 2022 with Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) an autoimmune disease, which has made it nearly impossible for Jermaine to survive on his own, given he was already diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth.
Jermaine’s condition causes him constant pain and the reality of being in a rehab center has become clear: People like Jermaine suffer from the neglect and abuse of the health care and housing systems, in which very few people care that a queer black disabled man isn’t getting the help he needs, and may ultimately become homeless because of his inability to work at the moment with no more help (very little to begin with) being offered by various programs.
While Jermaine’s mother is an active participant in his care, she doesn’t have the emotional or financial bandwidth to help him in the way that he needs: 24hr professional medical care until his HS is properly treated and under control. This leaves him financially vulnerable to afford the level of care that he needs for his daily survival. At this time, Jermaine needs assistance with everyday tasks like meal prep, bathing, going to the restroom etc. The wound care is essential because while Jermaine has multiple infections on his open wounds from HS, cleaning them is crucial for his survival. Not cleaning them creates bacteria and advances the infections. Additionally, his insurance will not cover all of these expenses as they will only cover 3 days of wound care, leaving him without care for the remainder of the week. This can be deadly for someone like Jermaine.
Prior to his HS diagnosis, Jermaine worked at Lincoln Center as an administrator in the Communications and Disability Outreach/Education Department. He also spent a great deal of time advocating for both the LGBTQ+ community and the disabled community as an activist.
We are hoping someone will advocate for him.
In order to treat HS and get better to physically be more independent in the way that he was prior to his diagnosis
