Alysia Joy Powell

I have been keeping a little secret about the struggle I’ve been dealing with. I have been living with an autoimmune disease of Rheumatoid Arthritis and kidney disease due to RA, in New York for years — working, building, showing up. I founded a nonprofit. I launched a company. I wrote books. I’ve worked as a doula and licensed nurse and have guided hundreds of babies into the world. I kept going because that’s what I know how to do.

Now it’s time to go home.

By July 31, 2026, I am relocating to Los Angeles, California, to be close to the transplant center where I will receive a kidney transplant, and to rebuild a support system in the city I’m from. California is where I need to be for this next chapter. I’m not doing this alone. But I can’t do it without your help.

Here’s what a transplant actually costs beyond what insurance covers:

Travel back and forth to the transplant center before and after surgery. Housing close to the medical facility during the evaluation period and recovery. Anti-rejection medications — for life — that insurance doesn’t always fully cover. Lost income during recovery, which is measured in months, not weeks. The cost of simply surviving while you heal.

I have given 30 years of service to the women of my community. I have shown up on film sets, in delivery rooms, in classrooms, and in living rooms. I have been the person who stayed. Now I am asking you to stay with me through this.

Your donation goes directly to Help Hope Live — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that manages medical fundraising funds and ensures every dollar is used for my transplant-related expenses. Your gift is tax-deductible. It is protected. It is real.

I’m not asking for sympathy. I am asking for solidarity.

Donate right here, right now, from wherever you are reading this.

You and me.

We’re not done yet.— Alysia Joy Powell, Actress. Nurse. Doula. Author. Founder. Fighter.