ARFY24 Stories Archives - Friends of Karen

Because of You

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 18:00:13 +0000

For Friends of Karen the past year has been filled with both uplifting and heartbreaking stories demonstrating the strength, resilience and courage of the precious children and their loving families we are privileged to serve. We’ve spotlighted a few in this year’s Annual Report that represent the diversity of situations that we address every day. In our 46 years of helping families navigate the myriad challenges of their child’s life-threatening illness, we know that every family has a unique set of needs. Our dynamic Family Support Team meets a family where they are and skillfully weaves together a safety net of support throughout the child’s illness and for some, through survivorship or bereavement.

No family is prepared to face their child’s lifethreatening illness alone. Because of you, every family has a Friends of Karen social worker by their side every step of the way to offer compassion and guidance.

Thank you for being part of our caring community. You make all that we do possible. Through your commitment of time, financial contributions, engagement and advocacy, you keep Friends of Karen moving ahead, so we can offer core support and new programs that families need and want, all provided at no cost to them.

In today’s world where there are so many worthy causes, we are ever grateful for your steadfast support, standing with Friends of Karen in our sole mission to keep families stable, functioning and able to cope when caring for their critically ill child.

The post Because of You appeared first on Friends of Karen.

Being there for the whole family

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 18:21:42 +0000

At just five months old Carina from Westchester County, NY was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), an immune system disorder causing damaging inflammation and multi-organ failure. Carina received chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant to treat her HLH.

As a result of the transplant, Carina developed severe Graft-Versus-Host Disease that occurs when the donated cells attack the recipient’s cells and cause lifethreatening issues. Carina’s condition required a lengthy hospitalization and treatment for eight years.

Carina’s mother Noel connected with Friends of Karen and was paired with our social worker Beth. Friends of Karen provided years of support to ensure Noel, Carina and her older sister Ava remained stable, functioning, and able to cope.

Noel is a single parent and not being able to work while she cared for Carina had a big financial impact on the family. Friends of Karen provided financial assistance to make sure Noel could pay for necessities like her cell phone bill and clothing, as well as illness-related expenses that included car expenses and gasoline to get Carina back and forth to treatment.

A child’s life-threatening illness is emotionally wrenching for the ill child and every family member, so Carina’s family received ongoing emotional support from Beth. Ava participated in our Sibling Support Program to help her build coping skills and resilience by working with Melissa, one of our Child Life Specialists. Friends of Karen made sure that Carina and Ava never missed a milestone occasion – they received wished-for holiday gifts, birthday gifts and back-to-school backpacks filled with supplies for each new school year.

Today, Carina is eight years old and is still seen by doctors at the clinic and on daily medications for maintenance because of the complications from her bone marrow transplant. Her mother Noel recently reflected on how Friends of Karen made a difference for their family’s wellbeing.

“Friends of Karen has played such an important role not just for Carina, but for all members of our family during Carina’s challenging journey with her HLH and her bone marrow transplant,” Noel said. “Friends of Karen truly is an organization that makes every member of the family feel special, especially Carina’s sibling Ava. We will always be eternally grateful for all they have done for us during these most difficult times.”

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Supporting a family through the toughest of days

admin — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 13:21:33 +0000

Alex was two months old when he was diagnosed with a genetic disorder affecting his mitochondrial metabolism that impaired his body’s cells from producing energy. There is no cure for these disorders, so Alex received supportive care. When Alex’s condition worsened, he was enrolled in hospice and his mother, Xheni, and father, Serdi, were referred to Friends of Karen. The family from Queens, NY was paired with Friends of Karen social worker Alyssa who arranged for them to receive financial support from the organization towards food, clothing, utilities and car payments. The whole family, including Alex’s two-year-old brother Enzo and his grandparents, had emotional support from Alyssa during this difficult time.

Friends of Karen provided a thumbprint kit so the family could create a lasting remembrance by preserving an impression of Alex’s fingerprint that gets cast into a silver keepsake. The family also was assisted with funeral expenses when Alex passed at 10 months of age in March 2024. The family continues to receive bereavement support to help them cope with their devastating loss. Xheni recently shared how appreciative she is of the support the family has received. “Friends of Karen has been a great help for our family,” Xheni said. “They helped us with our financial struggles. The amazing social workers of this organization have been there for us to talk during the most difficult times of our lives. It would’ve been much harder for us if we did not have the support Friends of Karen gave us. We are forever grateful.”

The post Supporting a family through the toughest of days appeared first on Friends of Karen.

Helping families remain stable

admin — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:01:35 +0000

Jayden is a 16-year-old boy from Long Island who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a type of blood and bone marrow cancer, in January 2021. Jayden was treated and then relapsed in March of 2022 and was given a bone marrow transplant. Jayden’s eyes were damaged by Graft-Versus-Host Disease, a side-effect of the transplant. His family was paired with Friends of Karen social worker Marla who has provided emotional and psychosocial support and arranged for the family to get our help with illness-related and basic living expenses including housing assistance, and car payments and the cost of travel to the hospital for treatment. Jayden’s parents, Jose and Mary, are deeply grateful for the unwavering support they’ve received. Jose recently shared with Marla, “Without Friends of Karen, we would have had to sell our house,” underscoring the life-changing impact Friends of Karen has had on their lives during such a difficult time.

The post Helping families remain stable appeared first on Friends of Karen.

Lighting a path for a family in crisis

admin — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 19:06:38 +0000

In October of 2020 Jennifer was an athletic ten-year old who loved to swim, skate, play football and bicycle ride. One day she started to complain that she felt pain in her body, but her father Miguel thought she might just be sore from all her activities.

Over time it did not get better, so he took her to the pediatrician. Her doctor ran some tests and blood work and when the results came back, she was immediately sent to the Emergency Room for additional testing. The family was given the devastating news that Jennifer had Leukemia, and she was admitted to the hospital to start chemotherapy right away.

The impact of Jennifer’s cancer diagnosis was immediate, as her mother Raquel had to stop working so she could be at Jennifer’s bedside throughout her two years of cancer treatment. The hospital referred the family to Friends of Karen, and they were paired with Jackie, one of our three bilingual social workers so the family was able to communicate comfortably in Spanish, their preferred language.

Jackie ensured that Friends of Karen was able to help the family with psychosocial, financial and advocacy support, including helping pay their rent while Jennifer was in treatment. Friends of Karen also provided backto- school supplies and holiday gifts for Jennifer and her older brother Carlos. Today, Jennifer is fourteen years old and is cancer free and doing well.

Her parents are thankful for the help they received, and Raquel recently shared with Jackie what that meant to her family. “We are very grateful for all the support Friends of Karen has provided both emotional and financial. They have been a light in our path until the final days of Jennifer’s treatment.”

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