$1 MILLION RAISED FOR CONSTRUCTION! |
|
We have some very exciting updates from our construction efforts to help renovate the historic portions of this landmark house and expand to meet the growing needs of our transplant families as a partner of two world-class transplant hospitals. This spring/summer have been the most incredible fundraising stretch we have had to date with over $600,000 raised in donations and pledges specifically earmarked for construction from several prominent businesses, foundations, groups and even our own transplant families.
We have now raised over the 1 million dollar milestone that was the initial fundraising goal of our bankers and construction team for a project that was projected to cost $2.5M prior to the pandemic and the ripple effects created in the lumber and construction industry. That final figure does not include the donation of products or labor such as the bathroom related donations provided by Kohler, as well as other potential donations of an elevator, furnaces, etc. as well as volunteer time by painters and other skilled trades people who will be donating their time and talents.
With the anxieties of the pandemic, it has been such an incredible blessing to see the community, supporters and our transplant families so embrace our vision for making the state of Wisconsin a national leader both in the quality of medical care in all areas of transplantation and also a leader in providing the financial and emotional care to families while going through what will likely be the greatest challenge they face on many different fronts. We are so completely energized and grateful at this incredible response on the heels of the greatest pandemic of our lifetime.
With our expansion dreams ever nearer as a result, we continue to raise funds in an effort to keep our construction related debt as low as possible so that we can continue to provide the lowest rates possible to our families in need. We must also be increasingly mindful of the historic increase in the cost of lumber and construction materials and cross our fingers on a daily basis that those return more to normal as soon as possible. We lean heavily now on our construction team to determine the best time to begin based on those factors with all of our focus on securing the long-term future of this special place for future generations of transplant families.
We are so appreciative of the many behind the scenes advisors from banking, insurance, construction, medical, business, non-profit and so many more who continue to guide us through these unprecedented times and who understand the immense complexities of undergoing a major construction project at this time.
If you have any additional leads, ideas or suggestions on how we can continue to keep this momentum going towards making Wisconsin a national leader in all areas of transplantation and keeping our area at the epicenter of it all, please contact Cindy at any time at 608-831-1726 or via email at restoringhope@tds.net.
|
|
Restoring Hope Family: Summer 2021 |
|
RHTH Guests In Their Own Words |
|
As soon as I arrived at The Restoring Hope transplant House, so many of my nerves disappeared, I was welcomed so warmly. I felt so comfortable right away. I couldn’t believe Eric put so much effort into getting other RHTH families to cheer me on and send emails and words of encouragement. I deal with so many compression syndromes , but the nutcracker symptoms were the worst. And now they are gone. I was very impressed with how my parents were treated and the support they received was excellent! The house is kept so nice and it is so lovely. Being part of the RHTH family has been one of the best parts of my auto transplant and recovery, they really have made me feel like family.
Sarah
Kidney Autotransplant Recipient
Reedsburg, WI
|
|
Sarah's autotransplant story was recently featured on UW Health's website. We are so grateful for Sarah being open to share her story in the hopes that it might help the quality of life of others going through this very rare and incredibly painful issue.
|
|
This has been one of my most frightening experiences – my husband, Joe, was having a double lung transplant. To support him as a caregiver, I had to pull up my big girl socks and do whatever it took to support him. For me, this meant staying in a city I knew very little about – this was a first for me and very scary. First things first, finding a place to stay. I made the initial call and “Cindy” answered. As we spoke my fears and trepidation disappeared. She assured me I could stay at the Restoring Hope Transplant House (RHTH) and assured me she would take care of me. I was so relieved I didn’t have to do this alone!
When our ‘call’ came, we headed to Madison and the following day I arrived at RHTH. I was warmly greeted by Cindy and shown around the house and then to my room. After a night at the hospital with Joe, I just wanted to stretch out and sleep. Each day began with a tasty breakfast and conversation of many who experienced many different types of transplants. They helped me to know when to help, when to back off. They helped me to understand the medicines and how to help Joe with them. Our conversations were warm-funny experiences, lots of joking and then help with more serious ones. On my return each day from the hospital, I was greeted by Eric, as everyone is as they came in from their long days. Eric made our latest concerns his concerns and since he has been working at the house so long, he knows the ropes. Eric introduced me to the hospital garden and different services which extended family could take advantage of to chase the blues from my husband’s bedside. When Joe was released from the hospital, he joined me at the house for the next 10 days. Joe was encouraged to get his exercise and rest, he was amazing and he’s recovering well! During these next 10 days, RHTH – our new home away from home, became our security and sanctuary after a long day of checkups and ongoing tests. Now we are looking forward to dancing at our 5-year wedding anniversary blowout without an oxygen tank! Thank goodness for RHTH!
Barb
Double Lung Transplant Recipient Caregiver
Kenosha, WI
|
|
It is always so uplifting to see the success stories of our RHTH friends like Jennifer highlighted. UW Health performs more pancreas transplants each year for people like Jennifer with Type 1 diabetes than any other program in the nation. So many of them have become very dear friends over the years!
|
|
Life After Transplant: Inspirational Story |
|
First triathlon since her pancreas transplant for Melissa recently. Such an inspiration to us all especially while hosting so many transplant families from the national leader in pancreas transplantation to help longtime sufferers of type 1 diabetes. Awesome job young lady...we are all so proud of you! |
|
Eric's Promise To Cheryl Before Her Passing |
|
Just before Christmas, our friend David Stedman very sadly lost his kidney transplant wife Cheryl to Covid. As a group of us said our goodbyes to her that night on a laptop that tapped into a video feed from the hospital, our House Manager Eric promised Cheryl that he would wear her pink tutu and pink Cheryl’s Cheerleading Champions shirt that had become her trademark outfit at the annual Capital City Transplant 5k. What an amazing day it was to walk that course in her honor this summer and to have some dear friends join me in head to toe pink. Over $1,400 was also raised in Cheryl's honor to support Restoring Hope Transplant House in an online Facebook fundraiser for this walk. Can't thank everyone enough for making that such a special day! |
|
Emily's Golf Outing Raises $10,000 for RHTH |
|
It was an honor and a privilege to be able to donate to Restoring Hope Transplant House this year. Once I walked in the door, I felt the love. Upon seeing the table, my eyes actually watered imagining all of the stories, both happy and sad, shared at that space. Donation to me is all about give and take. I can't imagine a better place to be able to give in Emmy's name. There is definitely something special about that house and the people there. On behalf of the Emily C. Lyons Golf Outing, and everyone that supports us, we are better people because places and people like this exist. Continue to be kind everyone.
#emstrong
Dawn
Emily’s Mom – Organ Donor Family – Beaver Dam Lions Club Member
Beaver Dam, WI
|
|
Sometimes you meet someone and you just instantly know that they are special. Dawn Lyons-Wood is one of those people. When her daughter Emily tragically passed away in 2015 at the very young age of 19, Emily was a registered organ donor. In her passing, Emily heroically gave the gift of life to 6 people. 2 additional people received the gift of sight and over 60 people’s lives were improved by her tissue donation. As many of you saw a couple weeks ago, Dawn presented a check for $10,000 to Restoring Hope Transplant House from Emily’s annual golf outing. Her kind words as a friend, loving mother, organ donor family and even as a proud Lions Club member really mean a lot because she’s a really special person to all who have been fortunate enough to get to know her! Thank you all for allowing us to be part of Emily's incredible story! |
|
Live Love Donate Golf Event Supports RHTH |
|
We had an absolute blast with the Muenchow family and friends at the Live Love Donate Inc golf event this summer near Lake Geneva that is held in loving memory of Mr. Muenchow and also benefits RHTH. What a really fun group of golfers and volunteers and such a wonderful dinner, speakers and silent auction. Thank you all for including us on this special day! |
|
Wisconsin Lions Clubs Making A Difference! |
|
Thanks to Al for the beautiful new garden bench and so incredibly grateful for our area Lions Club friends for all of their volunteer workday help outside recently at Restoring Hope Transplant House and for their understanding that we have had recently discharged transplant recipients here at the house. Awesome job everyone…we appreciate you all! |
|
From coming over at a moments notice to help make an urgent repair to a front step to stopping by with some healthy treats, to raising funds at a golf event in support of so many families from their community who have called RHTH their home away from home, the Lions and their compassionate members have been such a blessing to this house. Thank you all for everything. None of the miracles you see within this newsletter would have been possible without you all! |
|
Thank You Lions From RHTH Guest |
|
RHTH Families: Friends For Life! |
|
Three families that met at Restoring Hope Transplant House during their transplant journeys made time to get together again recently in Michigan.
Having a place where the people genuinely care about you like family, where they share the joys of a great day, the concerns of a rough day, where they speak the same language, know about all your medications, have so many of the same medical team, chat at length about how caregivers best manage their days to get through these journeys with the best possible outcomes. These are the absolute best parts of this house when those relationships and conversations happen and the moments where I often sit back and proudly think that what we have collectively built is pretty darn special!
That’s a kidney (Dave), pancreas (Danelle), pancreas (Liz) and heart and liver (Ben). Love all these people like family!
|
|
Thanks For Everything Carol! |
|
Our friend Carol sadly retired from UW Organ and Tissue Donation this summer. She is a total rock star who comes from a polycystic kidney transplant family so she has always understood the journey of our families so well. We had the wonderful opportunity to thank Carol for her service to the transplant community recently and also to welcome Julie who will be an amazing addition in filling Carol’s shoes. Thanks so much for the visit ladies…best wishes to you both! |
|
We Are A Transplant Family Too! |
|
We are a transplant family too with a bone marrow transplant for leukemia in 2018. We totally get your hopes, fears and restless nights as recipients and caregivers on checkup days and getting through this pandemic. It is our hope that the boosters RHTH Executive Director Cindy and her bone marrow transplant recipient husband Brian recently received will help us emerge safely on the other side. We care about you all. Please stay healthy and well everyone! |
|
New RHTH Video: In Case You Missed It! |
|
For those who missed our new RHTH video from earlier this year, please give it a watch and share with any others who may be touched by our mission or interested in staying here as a transplant family. |
|
UPCOMING EVENTS - Fundraisers for RHTH |
|
Scavenger Hunt Benefit For RHTH |
|
Good Neighbor Fest This Weekend |
|
Follow Eric's RHTH Updates on Facebook |
|
Getting To Know House Supervisor Eric |
|
Many of you have gotten to know our House Supervisor Eric over the years as he has been here on a full-time basis from the start. RHTH is a labor of love for him as he has spent time with virtually every transplant family who has ever set foot in this house. Eric handles many critical day to day tasks at RHTH including website updates, grant writing, donation processing, the creation of all promotional materials, coordination of fundraisers, cleaning, supervision of the house, maintenance of the grounds and spending a lot of time enjoying the company of guests. In many ways, Eric is the heartbeat of the house who has a hand in everything we do. For more frequent updates on Restoring Hope Transplant House, please follow all of the updates Eric makes on a regular basis to the RHTH Facebook page linked above. Thanks for following! |
|
CONTACT RHTH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CINDY HERBST
|
Thank you for your interest in Restoring Hope Transplant House and our transplant family friends who call it home. We appreciate you taking the time to read through our e-newsletter updates and following our progress.
If you would like to learn more about RHTH, please call me at 608-831-1726 or email me at the link below.
|
|
|
Thanks For Reading Our Updates! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
