Aid Stephen Payne's Family in Crisis

My husband, Stephen Payne, and my father-in-law, Richard, are the co-founders of Arcadia Institute, a Catholic film apostolate that has produced over 120 films during its 35-year history. Their work has reached countless souls and has been honored with both national and international awards, including A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing and Saints Alive!. For more than three decades, they labored tirelessly—often without pay—out of love for the Church and the faithful. Only in recent years has Stephen received a modest salary from Arcadia Institute to help support our growing family. Now, after so many years of sacrifice, Richard is stepping into a well-deserved semi-retirement. At the same time, however, our family is facing the most difficult trial we have ever known.

Stephen has been suffering from serious health issues for nearly a year. He was recently diagnosed with a heart murmur and is awaiting further testing, including a referral to a neurologist to determine whether he suffered a stroke over a year ago—an episode that left him temporarily unable to move or speak. Since then, Stephen has battled memory loss, brain fog, and chronic fatigue. What has been definitively diagnosed is cardiovascular distress: both an echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test show that one of his heart ventricles is swollen and not emptying properly, likely the result of several years of untreated sleep apnea. A second opinion from a trusted cardiologist friend has confirmed these findings.

As a result of these health issues, Stephen is currently unable to work. With only $1,000 left to our name, we are in urgent need. We are humbly asking for your help to raise $5,000 per month for one year to cover our basic needs—clean drinking water, food, essential household items—and to address both current and past medical bills. If you also feel called to support the nonprofit side of our work—such as utilities, internet, mortgage, health insurance, and production costs—please visit the Arcadia Institute GoFundMe page and view our video there. However, this campaign—Stephen’s Family Fund—is focused entirely on our personal family needs during this time of hardship.

Your support of any kind—whether through PayPal, wire transfer, check, or a GoFundMe donation—would be an answered prayer. It will give our children the comfort of knowing their daddy is healing. It will give my husband the time he needs to recover in as low-stress an environment as possible. We estimate it may take a full year for meaningful healing to begin, and we are placing our trust in God’s timing and in your generosity. Please pray for us. Your prayers mean everything. And if you are able to give, please know that your gift is more than financial support—it is hope. It is a lifeline that may one day allow Stephen to return to the mission God called him to, and once again provide for our little family. From the bottom of my heart, thank you—and may God bless you for your love and support.