Perez Hilton’s friend launches GoFundMe for his children amid mental health treatment

Editor's note: If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting "988."

Perez Hilton's longtime friend has launched a fundraiser to help support the celebrity blogger's three children and their grandmother while he continues receiving residential mental health treatment after his hospitalization due to self-harm in August.

Tom D'Angora, who said he has been close friends with Hilton for 14 years, organized the GoFundMe campaign with support from Hilton's friends. The fundraiser has a $25,000 goal and had collected more than $2,100 from 56 donations as of Thursday, Sept. 17.

Hilton's mother, Teresita Lavandeira, has assumed full-time care of his children – Mario, 13, Mia, 11, and Mayte, 8 – while he focuses on his recovery, according to the campaign.

"Perez is currently receiving full-time residential treatment while he focuses on his mental health and recovery," the GoFundMe description reads. "This process will take time. In the meantime, his mother has stepped in to care for his children full-time and give them the stability and support they need."

D'Angora said Lavandeira has faced "significant and unexpected expenses" as she works to keep a sense of…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/