Over the years, the foundation has quietly recognized “Family Well-Being” award winners such as The Ackerman Institute for the Family, 21/64, Memoirs Productions, Family Centers, TIGER 21, and Aabalonered. Our vision is to expand our resources and reach to create more visibility for the remarkable work being done on behalf of strengthening families in the pursuit of generational well-being.

Lynne

Epilepsy Alliance North Carolina

When I was in Jr. High, a girl in my class had a grand mal seizure (Clonic Tonic Seizure), it was terrifying to watch, and l felt completely useless. That incident stuck with me my entire life; 47 years later I still remember her full name, her red hair, pale skin, green eyes, her posture, and the way she walked as one leg was slower to move than the other.

Little did I know that years later I would give birth to a beautiful baby boy with the same affliction. He had 2 seizures as an infant, and we were told it was unlikely to happen again, but they did start again in his 9th grade year, at which point his life completely changed, and so did ours. The search for a neurologist began, and the painful realization that medication was going to be unavoidable part of his daily routine for the rest of his life.

As a parent, you wonder what is going through your child’s mind, how will it impact his life, what activities can he continue, if he has a breakthrough seizure what is the proper protocol for handling it, what are the side effects of the medication, will they ever go away, and specifically what is causing the seizures.

Thankfully, the Epilepsy Foundation of NC (now the Epilepsy Alliance of NC) was a great source of information; they had a chat room for teens with epilepsy as well as a chat room for the parents. I went into the teen chat room because I needed to know how these kids felt…what were their gripes, and what brought them peace. It was heart breaking, but it helped me to understand what my son must be feeling, and how I needed to adapt my parenting skills to cater to his new normal. Epilepsy Alliance North Carolina is life changing for people, it pays for medication and helmets, offers classes, helps navigate the insurance company roadblocks, helps people find doctors, and so much more.

The RayLign Well-Being Foundation’s contribution to Epilepsy Alliance North Carolina provided much needed breathing room to families, and I am so very thankful for this.

Barbara

Neighbor-to-Neighbor

When thinking about donating to a charity in the past, my mind has always gone to those large non-profits so many of us familiar with.  

Through my recent internship with Family Centers, it became crystal clear to me, that walking among us are hungry individuals, many of whom are elderly and simply neglected. It is unthinkable to me that hunger and malnutrition are prevalent in some of the most affluent communities.

One day I was recruited by Family Centers to translate for a homeless woman who was found sleeping at the Greenwich train station. Long story short, the woman’s case was a challenging one, because it technically didn’t qualify for assistance through Family Centers, and was somewhat shuffled around between Greenwich social services. When the time came to coordinate resources for this woman, there was red tape all over – who approves the cost? What is the budget? Is this within our protocol? I was baffled by the amount of bureaucratic processes that we were met with.

The truth us, when the time came for getting help, Neighbor-to-Neighbor offered clothes and food to carry this woman over, while my supervisor worked tirelessly to find housing and work for her. Neighbor-to-neighbor is exactly the type of place that simply cut to the chase and offered help. My supervisor called one of the coordinators asking if any help could be offered, and the next morning, at 7:30am food was delivered to the woman’s motel room. No questions asked.

I don’t know what it’s like to be homeless or hungry, and I simply cannot imagine how helpless this woman felt when she was being shuffled around from case worker to case worker. What I do know is that support organizations should do just that – support. And I am certain that the $500 donation to N2N went a long way to stock their pantries, and will service the people who are going hungry each day. For that, I am grateful.