"EE" Esther Elizabeth Banks Medical Relief Fund

Esther Banks is one remarkable woman, mother, grandmother and friend. Jennie is all the things, sans granny. Who doesn’t love these two gals with such southern charm? If you do, you know they would give you the shirt off their back. They would stop what they’re doing to help a friend in need.

Now is OUR turn to return the favor.

Esther aka “EE” Banks is going through some significant health issues. She is currently being medically transported to Tinley Park, Illinois to be cared for by Jennie, her husband Chris and their two young children, Olie and Baker.

Last summer Esther was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy.

As if that news wasn’t startling enough, she was also told she had Non-Alcoholic Cirrhosis of the liver (AND let’s be clear…EE was NOT hitting the bottle). The rug swept from underneath her and has been in/out of hospitals. She had just been through the wringer when she had a fall that fractured her eye socket and had a brain bleed. In late November, she regained her strength again, and she wanted to go home. She missed her friends, family and church, and sure enough, they set her free! She was home and independent from December to March but started having setbacks, and this is where we are now.

The last six weeks have been nothing short of a living-nightmare. With a broken health care system and things falling thru the crack, Esther is now facing the biggest hurdle of them all.

Unfortunately, the system used most of her days of rehab in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Right at this moment, she’s being medically transported [the picture says a thousand words] to a rehab facility in Tinley Park. After Medicare ‘kicks’ her out, she will be moving to an assisted living facility 1.5 miles from Jennie’s house. Jennie is at peace and so relieved that she found a place that checks all the boxes.

Jennie will be coming back to Mississippi to pack up some of her favorite things in a U-Haul so she can feel more at home. The hardest part will be selling their family home, which hasn’t been discussed with EE… yet.

Medicare /BCBS will not cover the medical transfer or assisted living. The family is looking at a mountain of medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses. All funds that are donated will directly benefit Esther.

So, let’s all band together, show the Banks family [Jennie, Trey and Michelle] some extra love, and lighten the family's burden in the coming weeks and months.

With love and thanks-

Steph Jessen, lifelong ‘sister-friend’ of Jennie & EE

Sarah Brewer Garrick, a dear friend of Esther and the family