Help the Greene Family stay afloat

Thank you for visiting our fundraising page. I am a friend of the Greene family who wishes to share their story and help to ease the financial burdens of having your lives turned upside down while out of work.

A LITTLE ABOUT WHY WE NEED TO HELP THIS FAMILY...

For those of you that don’t know Crystal, Brian, Severance, Sebastian, Charlotte and Ben, the past 4.5 years have been full of struggle and adversity mixed in with laughter and hope. They are a family of 6 with multiple special needs children; Ben's most complex. Ben has so many medically complex needs that we are aware of, it’s a puzzle to prioritize the most immediate need, and they are hard to pronounce, never mind treat wholistically.

Crystal has had 5 hernia repair surgeries, with the last being a 6-hour robotic repair to place a wire cage from breast bone to hip bone which is bolted and tethered to her spine. She underwent bariatric surgery to quickly reduce her weight to allow for a life-saving hernia repair due to resected bowel that almost took her life while teaching at work. The bariatric surgery caused significant complications, leading to a PIIC line and TPN port. Ultimately, she required a revision, which has pushed Nutcracker’s esophagus and challenged her ability to eat and drink. Each of those surgeries mandated she avoids lifting and carrying Ben so Brian was out of work for almost a year to care for his family. Crystal is scheduled for at least 3 more surgeries this year, with similar restrictions. Last year, Brian underwent double hip surgery and was out of work for the year while Crystal returned Brian’s favor of caring for her family yet she continued to work full time as a Lecturer at URI to maintain her family’s health benefits. Every month they went further and further into debt and fell further and further behind on their mortgage. It is extremely difficult to prioritize each of their levels of required care.

The Greene family provides a lot to the community as both a nurse and an educator at URI. Their professions expose them daily, especially during the pandemic, and COVID is now in their home. Crystal was the President of the Down Syndrome Society of Rhode Island for many years but now does advocacy work in other areas, including the deaf-blind community and educational disability advocacy.

A day in the life of the Greene's is hectic ... MORE TO COME ON THAT.

Taking care of 4 children is chaotic, never mind adding in the special needs that take extra time and care. This is balanced between each of their therapy sessions. As a result of a major episodes in Fall of 2021 and 2022, They also have Tides visit the house daily for check ins and are in the process of adding additional individual and family therapy to balance the stresses of daily life.

As I talked with Crystal over messenger... I was made aware of their current situation...

"Unfortunately, we all have COVID although we worked so hard to avoid it. Even with some vaccinated and boosted, our symptoms are pretty bad. Ben is really struggling and it is quite scary! We are working hard to control his fever, keep him hydrated and keep him out of the hospital. While we are managing, our family has been in crisis mode for the past 4.5 years. There are so many medically complex needs of Ben, of myself, of Brian and the other children. "

Privacy is important to the children, and it will be respected here, but genetically predisposed mental health is a major struggle. Their family juggles an extraordinary amount of stress and is in permanent crisis mode. The emotional and mental space needed to get through each day is taxing.

The Greene’s are putting aside their ego and pride to ask for help to position their family with resources to make life less of a struggle. They are allowing me to reach out as an act of self-love and compassion.

This will allow Brian to take the required time off to care for his family, especially Crystal as she recovers from her surgeries and Ben who requires 24/7 care and has limited mobility. This will allow the children to continue to play rec and competitive sports that they love, which teach them the importance of being part of a team and creating space for physical activity to buffer their mental health.

One of our own needs our help. Please consider donating whatever you are able and sharing this fundraiser to your own page, group pages, church and community pages, fundraising chapters or anyone else you think may be able to help.

Stay tuned for more about the Greene Family and updates on their day to day,

AND MOST OF ALL- THANK YOU FOR READING AND CONSIDERING!