What triggered you to apply for financial assistance?
NICU stay

How did you find out about our foundation as a resource?
Social Worker at Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP)

When you applied for financial assistance, explain what help you were looking for.
Gas funds

What help did you receive?
$500 in gas gift cards and a food gift card

How did you feel when you got approved?
Great! The money definitely helped my husband get to work with the prices being so high and myself not working because I was on maternity leave with Cecilia's twin sister.

Share as much or as little as you want about your story.
Cecilia has been in the NICU 8 months on 11.30.2022. This has been the hardest thing I have ever experienced. The emotional toll it has taken on me is indescribable. Financially, we have taken a hit with all of this; between me taking an unpaid leave to be with her sister who also spent 3 months in the NICU, and to make major decisions for Cecilia. We are in debt due to this, but that is the last thing on our mind. This foundation has helped us mitigate the debt for sure. $500 goes a long was when you are not getting a paycheck. Now I am back at work because we can't go on with me home anymore. This foundation has helped us get through the 20 weeks where I was dealing with one newborn at home and one newborn in crisis getting back to back surgeries in the NICU. I can't believe someone who suffered so much pain/loss would be willing to help others in a similar situation. I don't know if I could do that. God Bless this foundation.

Bring us up to date on what has happened since you applied.
4 major surgeries/procedures. Maternity leave. Back to work. Ostomy created for Cecilia. Came off a ventilator and nitric oxide. Has no more IV Lines. She is eating. Her twin sister started daycare.

Explain what this help meant to you. What effect did it have on your family short-term and long-term?
Mitigated debt. Brought comfort in the short term and less stress in the long term.

If you had not gotten the help you did, what would that have meant for your family?
More debt.

What would you say to another family going through this same process?
It's hard. It does get more bearable but it does not get easier. It's a nightmare. But I am grateful everyday for her miracle of life and all the obstacles she has overcame. You will feel both joy and sadness at the same time.

What do you now know that you wish you had known previously?
Doctors are not always right.

Is there anything else you would like to share?
This foundation is one of the good things in this world.