From Jamie Rife | Wed, May 24, 2023

At the beginning of March this year, our world was turned upside down when my husband went to the ER for stomach pain. By the end of March, we were told he had cancer. Acute Myeloid Leukemia, to be exact. He was admitted to The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City and started treatment by the first week of April.

We have 5 kids at home and we were down to one income. I was unable to make ends meet on my own and was falling behind. Michael Brown, whom my husband used to work for, found out what we were going through and got us in contact with the right people with the resources we needed.

The Jefferson’s Foundation stepped in and helped pay 2 months of our rent, our electric, and water bill. That gave me so much relief and time to focus on the kids and my husband. We are so grateful for them and what they helped us with right when we needed it the most. We have a long road ahead of us but wanted them to know how grateful we are for the help.

Thanks again!

The McKinley Family

We are Matt, Madi, Masyn, and one on the way, Millie, McKinley. In August of 2019, my daughter was born with a very rare gene deletion of the 14q32.31 & 14q32.33 that includes many diagnoses (Pierre Robin Sequence, Cerebral Palsy, Submucous cleft palate, and more). From the time she was born until about six months of age, she had many hospital stays and four surgeries. During that time, I had to become a full time stay at home mom and we only had my husband’s income to depend on. It was a difficult time for us financially.

The Jefferson Foundation quickly swept in and helped us pay about three months worth of bills so we could completely focus all of our energy on Masyn and her health. Masyn had a feeding tube til 18 months and still continues to have many doctor appointments and therapies. She is ultimately a thriving and amazing almost four year old.

We are so incredibly thankful for the Jefferson Foundation for helping us during a really hard time in our lives.

Tracy Smith | June 30, 2023

In October of 2021, my one-year-old grandson was diagnosed with a rare disease called Systemic Mastocytosis. His body has an overabundance of mast cells, and those mast cells are attacking his organs. At that time, my son was working through an employment agency and did not have insurance. The medicine treatment and formula for my grandson was and is extremely expensive. My son, his wife and my grandson were having to travel from the Kansas City area to the Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati for my grandson’s care.

The Jefferson’s Foundation stepped in and helped with their living, travel, and other expenses to ensure that my grandson got the care and treatment he needed. It could not have come at a better time, considering how expensive the medicine is.

We are so thankful there are organizations like this to help people when they are struggling as my family was.

Cassandra Haen

The Jefferson’s Foundation assisted me with providing funds for stable housing to a parent and child who would have experienced homelessness without the immediate intervention of the foundation. They were struggling due to mental health issues brought on by a highly traumatic Domestic Violence event they experienced in their home. The parent was left with anxiety and the child with severe separation anxiety.

Pam’s amazingly quick response, The Jefferson’s Foundation philanthropy and our program’s concrete support funds made it possible for them to take a moment, feel safe, and receive the care and counseling necessary to start rebuilding their lives. I have requested help from Pam numerous times and the overwhelming response has been a blessing to my clients.

A thank you is simply not enough.

Stephanie Herring

Pam with Jefferson’s Foundation helped provide Christmas gifts for a family and when the items were not going to make it to the family in time for Christmas, she decided she would drive the items to Fort Scott herself. We ended up meeting halfway, but she had no problem going above and beyond for the family to make sure the children had a little something for Christmas.

A family was nearly $600 short of getting their water bill balance caught up and then they could have their water turned back on. We were able to pay nearly $300 and within 12 hours of me reaching out to Pam, the balance was at $0 and the family is now able to call and make arrangements for the water to be turned back on so they can bring their new baby home.

There was a family on my caseload, and the children had experienced some very traumatic things which led to them being moved from one parent’s care to another, and the parent had nothing for them as they had been living in a motel. Once they moved into a house, Pam ordered beds and bedding for the kiddos and asked their ages and what type of things the children liked so she could make sure the bedding would be something they would love.

Teddy Laubengayer

I had a family who recently had a baby with cystic fibrosis. Due to the medical needs of the baby, and that this was their first baby, the mom had to stop working. Dad is a Veteran, who is working hard to meet the family’s needs and fell behind in their rent.

Between the specialist appointments in Kansas City, the financial changes, being first-time parents, and having a medically fragile baby, the family said they felt like they were drowning. They were so worried about being evicted. I told the family about the Jefferson Foundation, and we sent a request to help with the late rent. I sent the request in, and the next day Pam paid the late rent for this family. When I called the mom and told her to check her account, she started crying.

She was so grateful to the Jefferson Foundation, saying she felt like she could breathe again.

DCF

Our Family First Services are working with a family that is currently staying in a motel for at least two weeks, courtesy of the Jefferson’s Foundation. The mother applied with the help of an in-home Family First service provider and received a response back that same day. The mother is working very hard to do everything she needs to do to obtain housing and stability for her family, and this gave her at least two weeks of one less thing to worry about on her plate.

Carol Foister

I had a single mom of three needing assistance paying her electric and gas bills. The Jefferson’s Foundation was able to assist with paying a total of $665.20 on both bills. She was beyond grateful for the much-needed help!

I had a family of four that was at risk of getting their electricity turned off. Through the help of the Jefferson’s Foundation, they were able to keep their electricity on during the cold months.

A family of five with a baby on the way was having trouble paying their bills after the father had lost his job. The Jefferson’s Foundation paid their past-due balance on their electric bill, which was a relief to the family.