Keep Swimming Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of three grants, totaling $2,625 and spanning the foundation’s November and December 2020 application window.
Family #1 – Gresham, OR – Recipients of a $1,500 Grant
In February 2020, a husband and father of two young girls received the call he had been waiting for since 2016 - a heart and lung were available. He had struggled with energy and his overall health since 2013, but was now finally able to start his new life. He and his wife traveled south to San Francisco, where he received the double transplant 24 hours later.
While the surgeries were a success, his recovery was riddled with issues, including rejection, an additional surgery, and a bout with pneumonia. Due to COVID-19, his daughters were not permitted to see their father until his discharge in December 2020. His wife was able to remain at his bedside throughout the duration of his stay, where she lived in a small hotel room across the bay.
The couple is currently living in northern California while he undergoes frequent follow-up appointments. They hope to return to their home in Oregon in the coming weeks.
This Keep Swimming Foundation grant is being provided to help the wife pay down debt related to lodging, food expenses, and transportation fees she incurred throughout her husband’s lengthy hospitalization.
Family #2 – Boston, MA – Recipients of a $625 Grant
This grant is awarded to a single mother in Boston, Massachusetts, whose infant son has been battling a rare systemic inflammatory syndrome. The mother has been with her son in the hospital since birth in September 2020. Last weekend, he began his first of many chemotherapy treatments in an effort to calm his immune response. There are currently no plans for discharge.
The mother has been living in a lodging facility that was provided to her by the hospital. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, the complimentary bus has been full nearly every day (her son’s hospital is the last stop on the route) and she has been unable to take the bus home in the late evening. Consequently, she has needed to hail an Uber or taxi to safely return to the lodging facility.
This $625 Keep Swimming Foundation grant replenishes the past two months of transportation expenses so that she may continue to afford being with her son throughout his ongoing treatment. This grant fulfills the full amount requested by the family.
Family #3 – Willowbrook, IL – Recipients of a $500 Grant
A surprisingly common injury hospitalized this Illinois family’s toddler for a little over two months when he swallowed a button battery (the small circular battery found in many children’s toys).
Unfortunately, the battery broke midway down the child’s esophagus, leaking battery acid and causing severe burns within his throat. He was hospitalized for the burns, and underwent several surgeries throughout the following sixty days.
The mother stayed with her child at a Chicago hospital each day throughout his recovery. The father traveled daily to-and-from work/home (where he cared for their other children) to visit in the evening.
The family’s son has since been discharged. The couple is now working closely with the hospital to raise button battery injury awareness among hospital staff and their surrounding community.
This Keep Swimming Foundation grant replenishes the mother’s food expenses and the bulk of the father’s daily parking and gasoline expenses. This grant fulfills the full amount requested by the family.
In the coming weeks, Keep Swimming Foundation will announce the winners of our January 2021 grant cycle. Earlier this year, the foundation shared how the Board of Directors will be selecting recipients on a monthly basis, as opposed to our traditional quarterly process.
We are only able to provide these grants to families in need thanks to the extreme generosity of our community of wonderful donors.
Please help us help families next month by making a donation today!