For the Love of Carly

When Carly was young and people asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, her answer was always simple:

"A wife and a mommy"......And that is exactly the life she built.

Carly is a mother of four, Brandon's wife and best friend, and as he has told people for years...the kindest and most selfless person he has ever known.

As a longtime single mom, Carly has been the constant for her daughters, Caitlin and Camryn. Their person. Their safe place. And when Carly fell in love with Brandon, she opened her heart completely to his two young children, Cashyn and Story, whom she met when they were only six and three. She has loved them fiercely ever since, not simply as stepchildren, but as her own.

Now Carly and her family are facing something none of them could have imagined.

Everything Changed in a Matter of Days:

On August 10, after unusual headaches followed by increasingly concerning confusion and memory problems, Carly was taken to the emergency room. Imaging unexpectedly revealed a mass in her brain.

Within days, Carly was hospitalized, underwent extensive testing and had brain biopsy surgery.

The diagnosis was devastating:

Grade 4 glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Because of the size and location of Carly's tumor, the family has been told that surgical removal is not currently an option.

And even as Carly began processing the enormity of that news, one of her first concerns wasn't herself. It was the children.

“I'm just worried about the kids and their hearts. All I care about is you and them.”

That is Carly.

We want to speak honestly about what this family is facing. Glioblastoma is a serious, life-threatening disease. Carly and Brandon are not denying that reality.

But honesty is not hopelessness! There has been no loss of hope.

Carly's diagnosis does not define what remains possible. Her family intends to pursue every reasonable opportunity to give Carly the best care, the best treatment, the strongest fighting chance, the best possible quality of life and more meaningful time with the people she loves.

Brandon has expressed the North Star guiding every decision:

“We will fight for more time. Protect the time we have. Make that time matter. That's my North Star. Everything else is secondary.”

No Meaningful Stone Left Unturned:

With faith, wisdom and urgency, Carly's family intends to investigate every credible opportunity that could reasonably help her, from leading neuro-oncology specialists and additional medical opinions, to clinical trials, precision medicine, emerging and investigational therapies, evidence-informed supportive care and rehabilitation.

Some opportunities may be close to home. Others may require travel, specialized treatment centers or expenses not covered by insurance.

Every option will be evaluated carefully for evidence, safety, medical appropriateness and potential benefit.

The goal isn't to chase everything. It is to make sure nothing credible that could help Carly is overlooked simply because the family lacked the resources or ability to pursue it.

As Brandon has put it:

“Let's turn over every stone. Let's fight for her. Let's pray boldly and believe boldly. And through all of it...whatever this journey looks like—we want to give God all the glory.”

Why the Baker Family Needs Our Help:

This diagnosis has changed the family's financial reality almost overnight.

Carly's ability to work has been disrupted by her illness. Brandon is currently between positions, and the family does not have health insurance while facing potentially significant medical and treatment-related expenses.

They are now navigating hospital and treatment costs, specialist consultations, advanced testing, additional opinions, medications, possible clinical-trial participation, caregiving and potential travel to specialized treatment centers—all while continuing to try to provide stability for their children and maintain their household.

Financial support creates something incredibly important right now: Options. It gives the family the ability to act quickly when an important medical opportunity becomes available—to seek another opinion, travel to the right specialist or treatment center, pursue appropriate testing or investigate a credible treatment without first having to ask whether they can afford to explore it.

It also gives Brandon greater freedom to spend this extraordinarily important time where he belongs: beside Carly as her husband and advocate, and with their children as their dad.

This campaign cannot promise an outcome. What it can do is help ensure that financial limitations, lack of insurance, travel costs or logistical barriers don't prevent Carly from pursuing a credible opportunity that may help her.

How Your Support Can Help

Contributions may help with:

Funds will be received and managed for Carly's care and the needs of the Baker family.

Faith, Hope and the Fight Ahead:

Carly and Brandon want their response to this journey to glorify God.

Their faith doesn't mean pretending this is easy. It means facing reality without surrendering hope—praying boldly, believing boldly, loving one another well and trusting God through enormous uncertainty.

They are praying for complete healing while pursuing the very best medical care and opportunities available to Carly.

If you would like to stand with Carly and the Baker family, there are four meaningful ways you can help:

Give. Whatever amount you are comfortable giving can help create options for Carly and her family.

Share. Please share Carly's story. One share or one connection may open a door the family doesn't yet know exists.

Pray. Please pray boldly for Carly's complete healing, wisdom for her medical team, effective treatment, strength and peace for their children, financial provision and more meaningful time together.

Connect. If you have a legitimate connection to a qualified physician, researcher, neuro-oncology center, clinical trial or credible therapeutic opportunity that may be relevant to Carly, please share it through the family's support network so it can be appropriately evaluated.

Carly has spent much of her life loving and caring for the people around her.

Now it is our turn to surround her.

For the love of Carly, we are standing together....

** A note on tipping: At checkout, GoFundMe asks for an optional tip that goes to GoFundMe, not to Carly. This is separate from your donation. If you'd prefer your full gift to go toward Carly's care, select "Enter custom tip" and set it to $0.