Helping Families near Philadelphia PA

HELPING FAMILIES
WHEN THEY NEED IT THE MOST

Meet Luca's Family

Luca and his Ewing, NJ family received support from Fred's Footsteps while he was recovering from a double lung transplant at the CHOP.

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"After Luca’s life saving transplant, Fred's Footsteps stepped in when we needed you most. You relieved financial burden, so we could spend time aiding in Luca’s recovery and preparing to bring him home. For this, we can’t thank you enough."

Just days after his birth, Luca was diagnosed with lung failure and was referred to the lung transplant program at CHOP where he was placed on the list to await a donor. On November 7, 2016, at five months of age, Luca received a bilateral lung transplant. Luca's mother had already taken all of her FMLA – mostly without pay – and she was forced to further reduce her work hours to part time to be at the hospital while Luca recovered. This cut the family’s income in half. The family was having difficulty covering their everyday bills, while caring for their young daughter at home and Luca, who remained hospitalized. Fred’s Footsteps stepped in to provide the family with two months of mortgage and utility payments.

Meet Max's Family

After Max's premature birth, his Willingboro, NJ family turned to Fred's Footsteps for support so that they could focus on bringing Max home.

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"Thank you, Fred's Footsteps, for all of your support and assistance."

Baby Max was born way too early – at just 24 weeks gestation - and was hospitalized for a staggering 223 days. After going through their unpaid FMLA time, Max’s mom (a social worker) and dad (an accountant) had to return to work to keep their family afloat. They spent their non-working hours commuting back and forth to be by Max’s bedside at the hospital.

Max was finally able to go home in the fall, but relief was short-lived. After just a few weeks, Max needed to return to CHOP for another surgery related to his extreme prematurity. He is home again now – hopefully for good – but his family knows his intensive medical needs will be ongoing. They are doing well at home, and his mom has been able to take another medical leave until January as they settle into their “new normal”. Fred's Footsteps helped Max’s family bridge the gap from some of the hardship of their lost wages over this past year. Staying on their feet with their mortgage payments will give Max’s loving parents the breathing room that they need to focus on caring for their sweet baby at home without additional financial worry.

Meet Kyle's Family

Kyle and his Pennsville, NJ, family turned to Fred’s Footsteps after he suffered a traumatic brain injury when hit by a drunk driver.

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"Fred’s Footsteps allowed us to be a family again. I can’t express how much it meant, not just to Kyle, but to our entire family. We wouldn’t be where we are today without Fred’s Footsteps.”

Kyle was hit by a drunk driver in June 2015 while skateboarding to a friend’s birthday party. He suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, multiple bone fractures, and doctors feared for his survival. His mother and step-father, who were taking care of five boys at the time of the accident, were forced to stop working. They quickly fell behind on several bills while taking care of Kyle at the hospital. Fred’s Footsteps covered the family’s mortgage and utilities for several months to get them back on their feet. We further provided a financial cushion so that they could focus on the necessary home modifications required to bring Kyle back in the house with his family.

Meet Hayden's Family

Hayden and her Garnet Valley, PA family received support from Fred's Footsteps after her diagnosis of Unilateral Retinoblastoma.

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"Although this past year was an incredible struggle, today we are very fortunate and thankful to be able to enjoy this holiday as a family again. We are able to have this simple happiness again because of all of you. Your love, your support, your kindness, your devotion, and your extreme generosity have gotten us to this point, so we feel truly blessed. There is no way that we could have made it this far without you, so thank you for everything that you’ve done for us!"

Hayden was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when she was four years old after having symptoms of eye drift and eye pain. She had her right eye removed immediately after diagnosis and began chemotherapy shortly thereafter. Before Hayden's illness, both of her parents were very stably employed. In fact, her father had recently left his full time job for a contract position that would have afforded him an even better salary. When Hayden was diagnosed, he was forced to resign from this position, and he was not eligible for FMLA due to his short employment. The family quickly began to deplete their savings to keep current on their bills, but then they found Fred’s Footsteps. Fred’s Footsteps provided the family with three months of mortgage and car payments to allow them to get back on their feet and focus on Hayden’s treatment.

Meet Miles' Family

After Miles’ premature birth and diagnosis of Skeletal Dysplasia, his Philadelphia family received the help they needed from Fred’s Footsteps.

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“This funding from Fred’s Footsteps gives us the peace of mind of knowing that at least our mortgage is being paid while we focus on getting Miles well enough to finally join us in our family home. Without financial assistance, we were uncertain that we would be able to keep our home.”

Miles and his brother, George, were born at just 31 weeks gestation. George was healthy at birth, but Miles had multiple complications related to his premature birth and Skeletal Dysplasia, including chronic respiratory failure. Miles needed a tracheostomy and feeding tube for support. Their parents both worked full time prior to the twins’ birth, but soon they were struggling to take care of healthy George, while visiting Miles at Dupont in Delaware, and keeping up a regular work schedule. Fred’s Footsteps provided six months of mortgage payments so that the Luczkowski family could focus on getting Miles healthy and bringing him home, which they successfully did at Thanksgiving (when he was over one year old).