Jennifer Reeves

Yalon Hutchinson’s battle with Hidradenitis Suppurativa started when most people’s do, around age 15. As a sophomore in high school, Yalon was on a field trip when she recalls feeling a strange sensation on her inner thigh.

For Selina Ferragamo, being diagnosed with Hidradenitis Suppurativa was not a straightforward task. The 25-year-old native Long Islander, who is currently a student and graphic artist, first started getting symptoms around 10th grade.

Maggie McGill was only 19-years-old when she first noticed painful bumps between her thighs. “I was working at a outdoor summer camp and the sweat and friction from walking outside worsened my symptoms.

For Chloé Longuet, her very first experience with HS happened around the summer of 2007. “I remember having what was a pimple, smack in the middle of my chest, small and located right at my bra band. It hurt.

“Never in a million years did I think that I would be part of that statistic.” Leigh Owens, a native Californian, says that growing up on the West Coast in the 80s, she had always heard about the HIV crisis,…

From the time she was a teenager, personal trainer and fitness coach Carly-Ann Dell knew that something was wrong with her health — but she didn’t know what.

At the center of her life, Jasmine “Ivanna” Espy is a storyteller. Whether she’s writing poetry or directing film, Espy’s dream is not only to share the experience of being human, but to inspire others to share their stories, too.

Though you’ve probably come across many people who have been supportive and loving partners to those struggling with chronic illnesses, you might not have come across Anjel Marii.

“I sometimes think back to that moment and of how blissfully unaware I was of what the next decade would look like for me,” Pooja Parikh, an Oklahoma City local and years-long HS sufferer shares, recalling the first flare up…

“One minute I was serving customers and making smoothies and the next I was lying on the floor crying from the pain.” For Bec Hansen, a photographer from Brisbane, Australia, being diagnosed with Endometriosis didn’t quite come as a surprise…

Laverne Cox has spent her life breaking through barriers. Now, she wants to help break another: the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding the HIV+ community.

It’s that time of year again: gifts abound, families and friends reunite, and we all begin to contemplate the ways in which we might be able to give back to our communities.