Donation protected
Reinstate frontline worker’s mortgage!
Tammy Tripler is one of the best people our family knows. She is an EMT, preschool teacher, school board member, and a tireless supporter of numerous causes in our community on Swan’s Island, Maine[1] . Yet in just five years, Tammy was diagnosed with cancer, lost two family members to cancer, and lost most of her income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all while providing a home to her two daughters, Megan and Desi, and continuing to volunteer in our community.
Now, Tammy and her daughters are in danger of losing their house unless we help. Failure to meet our goal by March 16th will result in Tammy losing her house and she will be responsible for the shortfall even if the house is sold.
Please donate to reinstate the mortgage on Tammy’s house. Help us give back to someone who has given us and our island community so much. No donation is too small!
Read more about Tammy below and post your own stories about how she has impacted your life!
Tammy’s Story
Our family knows Tammy through the Swan’s Island library program and as one of our son’s wonderful preschool teachers. Tammy has supported herself through her floral business, Island Dreamweaver Flowers and cleaning summer rentals. She receives limited pay from ambulance service calls and as a member of the School Board. She volunteers for children’s programs, honors veterans by placing cemetery roses on Memorial Day, and has always been a helping hand when we needed her.
COVID19 has devastated Tammy’s income. The preschool was closed this year. Seasonal work cleaning houses is very limited. Floral arrangements for gatherings such as weddings and for the ~1,000 tourists we see in a summer has diminished significantly. Her limited pay from ambulance service calls and the School Board stipend does not cover her medical expenses from a double knee replacement and chemo.
Over the past 5 years, she lost her brother Geoff and brother-in law Bud to cancer, and nearly lost her mother to Lyme Carditis and sister-in-law to a brutal car accident returning from a visit with Geoff in Boston. Tammy stepped up to support her loved ones.
We didn’t know she was diagnosed with cancer until one of her daughters finally told us. She had been driving herself to radiation appointments on the mainland, a one-way trip of over an hour and a half, while maintaining all of her volunteer commitments. Our son summed up her business-as-usual approach to cancer best: “Teacher Tammy has no hair but she’s still Tammy.”
She was afraid that her appearance after chemo would scare kids and went to great lengths to make sure things were “normal” for them. I was more concerned by how hard she pushed herself. I encouraged her to rest one day when I saw her returning from the mainland. She had put in a full day as a census worker.
“I have to work. I’m trying not to lose my house,” she said.
I suggested that she cut back on her volunteering and she answered “I can’t let the kids down. They’re what gives me energy.” She said that there are so few EMTs that if she didn’t answer ambulance calls, there might not be an EMT responder when someone needed help. She answered over thirty-five calls last year alone.
Tammy chose to continue serving as an EMT and volunteering despite cancer and a crushing loss of income. Tammy is now in danger of losing the home she built with her family.
Life throws curveballs to the best people. Let’s show Tammy, Megan, and Desi that they aren’t alone!
Tammy Tripler is one of the best people our family knows. She is an EMT, preschool teacher, school board member, and a tireless supporter of numerous causes in our community on Swan’s Island, Maine[1] . Yet in just five years, Tammy was diagnosed with cancer, lost two family members to cancer, and lost most of her income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all while providing a home to her two daughters, Megan and Desi, and continuing to volunteer in our community.
Now, Tammy and her daughters are in danger of losing their house unless we help. Failure to meet our goal by March 16th will result in Tammy losing her house and she will be responsible for the shortfall even if the house is sold.
Please donate to reinstate the mortgage on Tammy’s house. Help us give back to someone who has given us and our island community so much. No donation is too small!
Read more about Tammy below and post your own stories about how she has impacted your life!
Tammy’s Story
Our family knows Tammy through the Swan’s Island library program and as one of our son’s wonderful preschool teachers. Tammy has supported herself through her floral business, Island Dreamweaver Flowers and cleaning summer rentals. She receives limited pay from ambulance service calls and as a member of the School Board. She volunteers for children’s programs, honors veterans by placing cemetery roses on Memorial Day, and has always been a helping hand when we needed her.
COVID19 has devastated Tammy’s income. The preschool was closed this year. Seasonal work cleaning houses is very limited. Floral arrangements for gatherings such as weddings and for the ~1,000 tourists we see in a summer has diminished significantly. Her limited pay from ambulance service calls and the School Board stipend does not cover her medical expenses from a double knee replacement and chemo.
Over the past 5 years, she lost her brother Geoff and brother-in law Bud to cancer, and nearly lost her mother to Lyme Carditis and sister-in-law to a brutal car accident returning from a visit with Geoff in Boston. Tammy stepped up to support her loved ones.
We didn’t know she was diagnosed with cancer until one of her daughters finally told us. She had been driving herself to radiation appointments on the mainland, a one-way trip of over an hour and a half, while maintaining all of her volunteer commitments. Our son summed up her business-as-usual approach to cancer best: “Teacher Tammy has no hair but she’s still Tammy.”
She was afraid that her appearance after chemo would scare kids and went to great lengths to make sure things were “normal” for them. I was more concerned by how hard she pushed herself. I encouraged her to rest one day when I saw her returning from the mainland. She had put in a full day as a census worker.
“I have to work. I’m trying not to lose my house,” she said.
I suggested that she cut back on her volunteering and she answered “I can’t let the kids down. They’re what gives me energy.” She said that there are so few EMTs that if she didn’t answer ambulance calls, there might not be an EMT responder when someone needed help. She answered over thirty-five calls last year alone.
Tammy chose to continue serving as an EMT and volunteering despite cancer and a crushing loss of income. Tammy is now in danger of losing the home she built with her family.
Life throws curveballs to the best people. Let’s show Tammy, Megan, and Desi that they aren’t alone!
Organizer and beneficiary
Katie Chapman
Organizer
Swans Island, ME
Tammy Tripler
Beneficiary