Help get Lee's beautiful smile back

--- Update! ---

I have good news and bad news to share. I’m happy to tell you that we’ve

surpassed the $5,000 mark! This is thanks to you, Lee’s wonderful friends, old

and new.

The bad news is our goal has changed. Lee’s dentist has increased her fee for the

procedure. This came as a terrible surprise. There’s no change in her service, no

change in Lee’s condition, just a misunderstanding within the dentist’s

administrative staff. We were under the impression that the total for all of the services would be $5,200 and she had paid $2,200 with credit, but the $2,200 is in addition to the $5,200 still due.

It's too late to change course or dentists, so I’m turning to you to help us reach our

new goal: $7,500.

Lee can hardly wait for her procedure to begin on April 26. It’s been a difficult and painful process for her. I can hardly wait to post a new photo of my sister with her new,

beautiful smile. Blessings to all.

Hi, I'm Marti and I'm asking for help for my sister Lee. In the last five years, through no fault of her own, Lee's teeth have deteriorated and have started falling out. It's reached the point where she needs to have the last of her teeth removed and dentures made. As the teeth have been going bad, Lee has endured serious pain. She's doing her best to save money to have the bad tooth removed, but her income is very small, limited to social security and a little money I'm able to give her each month. After she pays her rent, utilities, and basic living expenses, she has nothing left to contribute to an expensive, but necessary, procedure.

The removal of the rest of her teeth, and the making of the dentures will cost over $5,000. To secure the procedure, Lee made a downpayment charging half of the cost to a credit card. She must now come up with $2,600 by April 25, 2023. I'm hoping to raise $5,000 to pay the balance owed to the dentist and pay off the credit card that was used for the down payment. Please help Lee get her beautiful smile back so she can once again feel good every time she smiles and laughs.

Here's a little more of Lee's story. In 2008 Lee went to work for a Native American tribe on their reservation in northern Michigan. She was hired as the first non-tribal member case worker for Child and Adult Protective Services. In the first year, her caseload quadrupled largely because she wasn't related to anyone on the Council or in law enforcement. Everyone trusted Lee. In November 2010 while on the reservation carrying out her job duties, Lee was violently assaulted and hit in the head with a blunt object, possibly a large pipe. The resulting brain bleed injury caused permanent damage to her cognitive thinking and headaches that require monthly injections in her head. Native American reservations are not required to have workers compensation nor disability insurance. It took a year and a lawyer but Lee was finally able to be approved for Social Security Disability payments. Once she turned sixty-five, nine years later, monthly payments were switched to Social Security. Because Lee hadn't worked for those nine years, her Social Security payments are small. She drives a 2002 car that my husband and I bought for her. Our siblings have helped my husband pay for any car repairs, large or small, so that Lee can have transportation.

Despite everything she's been through, Lee remains mostly upbeat. She spends time volunteering at a horse rescue operation working with abused animals. Lee is recognized for her special talent and success in rehabilitating the most damaged horses.

Please help restore Lee's beautiful smile, so she can feel good again every time she smiles and laughs.