Our Impact
10 years of impact
$157,205.58+ in documented community investment across seven programs and 1,925+ people and couples supported.
Mental Health Assistance Program
Freedom for Veterans Program
iConnect Social Camp
Marriage Enrichment Retreats
PURE Program
Project Home Sweet Home
Ryleigh’s Story
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Ryleigh was only eight years old when her family received news no parent is ever prepared to hear: their little girl had cancer.
As Ryleigh’s condition worsened, she developed a devastating complication involving fluid near her brain stem. For four long months, her family remained by her side in the hospital, holding her hand, comforting her, and treasuring every moment they had left together.
At the same time, the family faced a growing financial crisis. One parent had just started a new job and did not yet have benefits. The other had to take unpaid family medical leave to remain at Ryleigh’s bedside. With little income coming in and everyday expenses continuing to accumulate, the family was forced to carry an impossible burden: preparing to say goodbye to their daughter while worrying about how they would keep their household financially stable.
Through the Families Left Behind Program, GiveMore Connections stepped in to provide financial assistance during this heartbreaking time. Our support helped ease some of the family’s immediate financial pressures so they could focus on what mattered most; being together with Ryleigh.
We could not change Ryleigh’s diagnosis, and we could not take away her family’s grief. But we could make sure they did not have to face every part of this crisis alone.
Ryleigh’s story is why the Families Left Behind Program exists. When a child experiences a life-threatening illness, the effects reach far beyond the hospital room. Parents may lose income, exhaust their available leave, fall behind on household expenses, and face overwhelming uncertainty about the future.
No family should have to choose between remaining beside a critically ill child and keeping the lights on at home.
Your support allows GiveMore Connections to stand beside families during the most painful and vulnerable moments of their lives. Together, we can ease the financial burden, preserve precious family time, and remind families like Ryleigh’s that their community has not forgotten them.
Ryleigh’s life mattered. Her family’s needs mattered. And families facing unimaginable loss should never be left behind.
The Harper Family’s Story
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The family’s name and certain identifying details have been changed to protect their privacy.
The Harper family went to sleep one evening in their two-story home expecting the next morning to begin like any other. Instead, they awoke to smoke, flames, and a fire rapidly spreading through their home.
With the stairway blocked and no safe path downstairs, their only way out was through a second-story window.
The father helped the mother escape first. When she reached the ground, she suffered a serious leg injury. Still trapped above, the father carefully lowered their older child from the window into the mother’s arms. The child also suffered a broken leg during the escape.
Then, amid the smoke, fear, and confusion, the younger child became frightened and ran back inside the burning home. Without hesitation, the father followed, desperately trying to save his child.
Neither of them made it back out.
In a matter of moments, a mother and child lost their husband and father, their child and sibling, their home, and the life they had known. They were left grieving unimaginable losses while also recovering from significant physical injuries and facing the immediate financial and practical needs that follow a devastating fire.
This is where GiveMore Connections stepped in.
Through the Families Left Behind Program, GMC provided support to help the surviving mother and child through the difficult days that followed. We could not replace the loved ones they lost or erase the trauma they experienced, but we could stand beside them and help carry part of the burden.
The Families Left Behind Program exists for moments like this, when tragedy changes everything and a family is left trying to determine how to take the next step.
Families coping with a catastrophic loss often face more than grief. They may also experience injuries, displacement, lost income, funeral expenses, medical bills, and the sudden need to rebuild their lives. During these moments, practical assistance becomes more than financial help. It becomes a message:
You are not alone. Your family has not been forgotten. Your community is here.
When you support the Families Left Behind Program, you help GiveMore Connections respond when families are at their most vulnerable. You help provide stability in the midst of uncertainty, compassion in the midst of loss, and hope when the future feels impossible.
We cannot prevent every tragedy. But together, we can make sure families like the Harpers do not have to face the aftermath alone.
