Support Each Other Using SupportNow

Last Christmas, my 14 year old disabled son got Covid. He has a LONG history of lung issues, dating all the way back to when he was an infant; colds, the flu, RSV, etc. have always seemed to just hit him harder. In the few days leading up to New Year’s Eve, we actually thought he had turned the corner and he seemed to be showing signs of improvement. But on New Year’s Eve night, he started to really struggle to breathe. We ended up at Le Bonheur in the early hours of New Year’s Day and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He spent the next week on oxygen, slowly allowing his lungs to heal, before being discharged on January 8. He was still getting twice daily breathing treatments using a vest that would vibrate, literally shaking all the bad stuff out of his lungs. He returned to school on January 12 for one day. The next week, if you haven’t blocked that awfulness from your minds, we had an ice storm and school was cancelled for even more days.

Between Christmas break, his illness, and then the ice storm, he had attended school for 1 day in a month.

Meanwhile, I have two other children, a job, and a husband who works insane hours. Needless to say, over that period of time, we relied heavily on our village. Friends and family cooked dinner for us, had our kids over for playdates, brought us coffee, and visited us in the hospital. Then when my other kids went back to school, they picked them up from school, helped get them to their after school activities, etc. And then, to top all of that off, the moms in my middle son’s grade all came over one night, brought dinner, and COMPLETELY TOOK DOWN AND PUT UP ALL OF MY CHRISTMAS STUFF. It was basically the end of January at that point, and I had been staring at all of my Christmas stuff for so long that I swear I was just blind to it. And was too overwhelmed by everything I had been dealing with for the last few weeks to even get started taking it all down. Those women saved my sanity.

I recently learned about a new website called SupportNow. It is available at no cost and helps provide relief to families in major life moments (pregnancy, loss, NICU/PICU, Cancer, Natural Disaster, etc.). One of the greatest things about this site is that a family support person can set it all up. When you are in crisis mode, it’s often impossible to even know what you need or what to ask for; all you’re trying to do is survive the crisis. So having someone just outside of the immediate crisis stepping up to at least get the ball rolling on assistance is amazing.

The SupportNow website is basically a one-stop shop. Through a single online experience, supporters can direct their compassion in meaningful ways, including:

• Lending a hand (around the house, child care, transportation, walking the dogs, etc.)
• Sending food
• Giving money
• Sending updates

So, what’s the difference between SupportNow and GoFundMe, MealTrain, or CaringBridge?

With SupportNow, not only can organizers share updates, but Supporters can take action to both “Raise a Hand” and “Offer a Hand”, without being a burden on the Family by asking what they need. Instead, they can go to one site and see everything that is needed in one place.

SupportNow is community support. Fundraising is a piece of it, but it’s not the full picture. Anyone that’s been through a tough time knows families also need help organizing all the friends, colleagues, etc. that want to lend a hand.

Plus, if you are donating for a family in need, families keep more money. Only on SupportNow can families keep 100% of supporters’ intended gifts.

I wish that I had known about this site a year ago, in the midst of trying to survive the first of the year. It would’ve been an amazing resource to have. But I’m so glad that it exists now for other people going through their own personal crises.

I’m also so glad it exists for people on the other side of the coin: new parents with villages that want to support and nurture them, families of kids who are receiving life-saving care, etc. It seems like such a blessing.