Kai, a young, single mother of four, woke her daughter up from a nap one afternoon and was in the emergency room a few hours later, to the inpatient ward for four months – and entering a world of sick babies, one of whom was her own precious Ny’Aree. “We thought she was dying,” said Kai of her youngest, who was just over a year old when she was diagnosed.

Kai didn’t expect to need help – she had a career and a stable life, like most of our families. Also, like most of our families, she was not expecting to be out of work due to her child’s illness, nor was she prepared to cover the out-of-pocket expenses that go along with a life threatening disease.

Living in this world of disease, chemotherapy treatments, blood transfusions, in-patient care and finally a bone marrow transplant broke her heart. But BCFM showed up with a kindness that she didn’t expect. Of her ongoing conversations with her Patient Support Specialist at BCFM, “They were there, even if I just needed to talk.” When she talks about the financial and emotional support that she received, she smiles and says that it was “life changing.”

She’s not sure what she would have done without the safe social spaces, financial assistance, and ongoing emotional support that she experienced through her relationship with BCFM. We’re not sure either, but we know that thanks to donors like you, she doesn’t have to find out – and neither do other families like hers.