Meet Samantha ~ Extended Hospital Stay Grant Recipient
The fact that patients are living longer, fuller lives with Cystic Fibrosis is a blessing! We at Claire's Place Foundation initially began our mission to serve children under 18 but realized that young adults living with CF are out in the world trying to support themselves while dealing with a very high maintenance illness and are also in need of assistance. We expanded our guidelines to include young adults and have been amazed by the super stars we have been able to meet. Here is one, her name is Samantha.Samantha and her husband James are both young professionals working to pay their way while dealing with her disease that is getting more and more difficult to manage. This year alone, Samantha has been hospitalized 6 times, twice for over 14 days. The stress of missed work and bills piling up in her absence is enough to take her attention away from her recovery, to say the least.Samantha says she had been a follower of Claire Wineland on social media but was unaware of her foundation until she saw her on the Gunnar Esiason's "Making it Matter" Podcast a few weeks ago. She immediately reached out to her social worker who began the process of referring her for assistance through our Extended Hospital Stay Grant Program.Being at the point of having to decide which bills can be paid and which ones have to paid late is not an easy place to be. We were thrilled to be able to offer Samantha and her husband a grant that covered one month's living expenses paid to the mortgage lender, utilities, etc. so that they could begin the next month with a clean slate and a little bit less of a burden. Samantha says "I received the email saying we had been approved after I got off of work. I literally sat in my car and cried tears of joy and relief. We are so grateful, beyond words! We know there are many families who request assistance and we are honored and humbled to have been helped. We will happily pay it forward when we are able. You are angels!" Thank you to Gunnar Esiason, Julia Rae and all of our donors, supporters and friends who share our message. We are grateful to have reached Samantha in her time of need and it is all due to our amazing circle of support!