Support the Soifua's!

Our friend and co-worker, Kelly Soifua, is going through a very difficult time currently and we at FosterAdopt Connect are interested in doing what we can do, as a community, to provide her family with our support, both personally and financially during this time. 

Kelly’s story:

“My husband Areta (Junior to his friends and family) and I met in high school marching band in 1983, I was a sophomore and he was a senior. We became very good friends before we ever dated. I went away to college and he went to Norway to serve a church mission. When he returned, he joined the Army. We married after basic training and moved to Ft. Campbell, KY. Over the next 10 years we had four children, three girls and a boy. Our oldest, Jessica, graduated from UMKC with her accounting degree and is currently a staff accountant for AWG. Our second daughter, Chelsea, works for the Family Connections Center and is majoring in Social Work at UCM. Our son, Alek is in a 5 year Master’s program at UMKC for architecture. Myranda, the youngest is attending Emporia State University in a pre-med program. Areta has worked for Yellow Roadway for the last 26 years. I joined FosterAdopt Connect in April of 2015 after spending 16 years in Early Childhood Education.

On September 15, 2015, while on a conference call at work, my husband found himself unable to speak. I took him to the emergency room and after several tests they found a brain tumor. He was taken to St. Luke’s Neurological center where the biopsy showed the tumor to be a Grade 4 Glioblastoma, one of the most deadly types of brain cancer, in the cognitive center of his brain.

Since the diagnosis, we have been on a rollercoaster of emotions, surgery and treatment. He has had three brain surgeries, six weeks of radiation and 12 cycles of chemotherapy. The most recent MRI has shown an inoperable tumor in his speech center. At this point, he is unable to read or write and his ability to speak has become impaired. One of our family members is with him around the clock. His prognosis is bleak as he will probably live less than six more months.”

While Kelly and her husband are highly responsible people, and have some life insurance and health insurance coverage available, the costs of this health crisis, the loss of a spouse and father who was the primary provider in the home, and the costs of four college aged children are overwhelming to say the least. Kelly is also someone who manages her situation with grace and dignity and isn’t eager to ask for help.

As a community, however, we know that when someone on our team is in this kind of a place, that is when we need to come together to wrap them up with our support and love. So we would ask you to give generously so that this great family can enjoy the time they have left together without worrying about paying the bills.