📝 Campaign Update: Crossing 200 Signatures! 💜
Hello Safe Harbor & Rare Crew family,
It has been a little over three weeks since my 31st birthday on October 3rd, and I am so grateful to announce that our petition has officially crossed over 200 signatures! Seeing support come in from across the globe—including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom—means everything.
Please keep sharing this petition link with everyone in your world: your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, church community, and local groups. If you see someone out in public wearing an awareness shirt or ribbon, take a second to connect, learn their story, and keep this conversation going.
🎙️ Strategy Shift & Protecting My Peace
While I am doing everything I can to grow our platform online through streaming on Twitch and TikTok, it is a constant grind. I also want to share a transparent update regarding my advocacy approach: I have decided to completely stop public, in-person petition gathering outside of retail stores.
Recent negative experiences out in public left me feeling deeply disregarded and cast aside—like a raggedy Ann doll tossed to the side. As a disabled adult living with invisible conditions, it often feels like our age group is completely forgotten. Society frequently builds roadmaps and support systems for children with special needs, but once you transition into adulthood, you are left out in the cold without proper resources.
I have carried a heavy sense of grief and isolation for years due to this systemic gap. Looking back, whether or not I had disclosed my diagnosis earlier, navigating social circles and making friends was always going to be an uphill battle. My main hope has simply been for adults to look out for one another and for our workplaces to offer support instead of friction.
🍂 Physical Health Update
On top of these systemic challenges, my physical body has been taking a hit with this Midwest weather shift. My daily medications haven't fully adjusted to the temperature drop, leaving me with lingering headaches, sudden nerve pain flares, and deep aches. The fatigue is heavy, but I am actively pushing myself to get out for daytime walks when I can and stick to an early bedtime to help my body reset.
Thank you all for standing with me, sharing this movement, and demanding real systemic support and resources for disabled adults. Let's keep this momentum going! 💜
— Erin / Rare Diaries