For two years, Lora Lord-Fread has been bedbound, living every day with COPD, chronic respiratory failure, heart failure, lymphedema, PTSD, chronic pain, and more. She depends on oxygen around the clock and cannot move her lower body much without help. Even turning in bed requires caregiving support. The reality is that living with this level of illness comes with overwhelming costs. Caregiving is a large part of that, but it’s not the only part. There are also medical bills, copays, supplies and treatments insurance won’t cover, and household needs that make survival possible. The family is stretched thin, and the expenses are more than they can carry. While she has applied for long-term Medicaid and disability, those approvals are still pending, and in the meantime, the out-of-pocket costs are crushing. Lora’s life has become a fight, not just against illness, but against numbers that don’t add up. The caregiving hours, the supplies, the treatments, everything costs more than what’s coming in. And without this support, she cannot survive. Yet through it all, she holds on to a single, burning goal: she will walk again. Curling her toes in the warmth that is sand on a distant beach. She will live, not just survive. Even now, from bed, Lora continues to create. As a fine art photographer, she has always found beauty in the overlooked, the B-side moments of life. She holds on to her art and her vision as tightly as she holds on to her hope.



This fundraiser is urgent. Every dollar will go directly toward caregiving support, physical therapy sessions beyond what insurance covers, lymphatic treatments for maintenance, medical expenses and copays, supplies insurance does not cover, and essential household needs that keep Lora stable and safe. Lora is an artist and a fighter. She is asking for help because she has no other choice. Please, if you can, donate what you’re able, share this page with others, and stand with Lora in her fight to move beyond survival and into living again. Every gift, no matter the size, brings her one step closer to stability, to healing, and to standing on her own feet again. A thousand miles starts here. And Lora needs your help to take the first step.