Go Karla Go!
Donation protected
UPDATE, 5/24/2017: Here is a message from Karla's sister, Hana Eicher:
Thank you so much, everybody, for the outpouring of love and support for my sister Karla and her son Jake.
We are overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciate your help. Although Karla's short term memory is gone, she remembers and misses everyone at Viewpoint and thinks of you as family. She enjoyed herself at the fundraiser and getting to see so many familiar faces! Karla really appreciates all the effort and work on her behalf.
I also want to sincerely thank Jill, Amy, Pam, Greg, Nicki and everyone who was involved with organizing this event. We appreciate everything you do each and everyday.
Warm Regards,
Hana Eicher
UPDATE: Within two days of announcing the fund, we reached well over our initial goal of $10,000. We are so touched by the outpouring of love, admiration and generosity for the Jepson Family. We hope that anyone that would like to donate will still participate.
Karla Jepson was a beloved member of the Viewpoint staff from 2001-14, working as the Director of Purchasing. She is the mother of Jake '17.
Funds raised here will go directly toward Karla's medical care. The skilled nursing facility where she is living does not currently provide physical or occupational therapy, so those are extra expenses for which the funds will be used.
Funds raised here are being withdrawn by Karla's sister, Hana Eicher, who is her primary family caregiver. This page was put together by Viewpoint School.
Here is her story, in Jake's words:
On May 9, 2014, my mom, Karla Jepson, had a hemorrhagic stroke caused by an aneurysm (a weakening in the wall of a blood vessel) in her brain. The day before, my mom watched me win my first league championship for Viewpoint Swim Team, an accomplishment she was incredibly proud of. She was looking forward to seeing me compete in my first CIF championship the following week. The night of the aneurysm, my mom picked up my cousin from school, but when she got home she wasn’t feeling well. My mom was found leaning over the sink, unresponsive to my cousin until she turned to her and asked her to call 911 before she collapsed. Mom was then rushed to Northridge Hospital and then airlifted to Cedars Sinai for surgery. While all this was happening, I was with my swim team for a party celebrating our graduating seniors. In the middle of senior speeches, my dad called me and explained what had happened. In less than 24 hours, my mom went from celebrating her baby boy to being rushed to a hospital and spending six hours in surgery to have the vessel repaired.
That night, sitting in the hospital lounge, I was unsure if my mom was going to live or die. I looked around and saw how many people were there in that room with me who cared about her. There was my family, but also her coworkers from Viewpoint. After working for Viewpoint for almost a decade, Mom became one of the most loved faculty members at Viewpoint. In the waiting room at two o’clock in the morning were the Thompson family, my swim coaches Greg Bisheff and Annie Stefanec, and Associate Head of School Paul Rosenbaum. In the days following her surgery, there were many others who came to the hospital to visit and show their support for her. Mom spent the next three months recovering from surgery, slowly gaining back her cognitive functions. Today, she still suffers from memory loss and is partially immobile on the left side of her body, but don’t let that fool you; my mom is still the same funny, sassy, and caring person that every person knew her as. I am grateful that I still have her in my life today, and thankful for all the support that everyone has shown me and my family. My mom is now in a skilled nursing facility, not far from home, where she loves to have friends and family come and visit. If you wish to spend time with her, please reach out to me; it would mean the world to her to see familiar faces.
Thank you so much, everybody, for the outpouring of love and support for my sister Karla and her son Jake.
We are overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciate your help. Although Karla's short term memory is gone, she remembers and misses everyone at Viewpoint and thinks of you as family. She enjoyed herself at the fundraiser and getting to see so many familiar faces! Karla really appreciates all the effort and work on her behalf.
I also want to sincerely thank Jill, Amy, Pam, Greg, Nicki and everyone who was involved with organizing this event. We appreciate everything you do each and everyday.
Warm Regards,
Hana Eicher
UPDATE: Within two days of announcing the fund, we reached well over our initial goal of $10,000. We are so touched by the outpouring of love, admiration and generosity for the Jepson Family. We hope that anyone that would like to donate will still participate.
Karla Jepson was a beloved member of the Viewpoint staff from 2001-14, working as the Director of Purchasing. She is the mother of Jake '17.
Funds raised here will go directly toward Karla's medical care. The skilled nursing facility where she is living does not currently provide physical or occupational therapy, so those are extra expenses for which the funds will be used.
Funds raised here are being withdrawn by Karla's sister, Hana Eicher, who is her primary family caregiver. This page was put together by Viewpoint School.
Here is her story, in Jake's words:
On May 9, 2014, my mom, Karla Jepson, had a hemorrhagic stroke caused by an aneurysm (a weakening in the wall of a blood vessel) in her brain. The day before, my mom watched me win my first league championship for Viewpoint Swim Team, an accomplishment she was incredibly proud of. She was looking forward to seeing me compete in my first CIF championship the following week. The night of the aneurysm, my mom picked up my cousin from school, but when she got home she wasn’t feeling well. My mom was found leaning over the sink, unresponsive to my cousin until she turned to her and asked her to call 911 before she collapsed. Mom was then rushed to Northridge Hospital and then airlifted to Cedars Sinai for surgery. While all this was happening, I was with my swim team for a party celebrating our graduating seniors. In the middle of senior speeches, my dad called me and explained what had happened. In less than 24 hours, my mom went from celebrating her baby boy to being rushed to a hospital and spending six hours in surgery to have the vessel repaired.
That night, sitting in the hospital lounge, I was unsure if my mom was going to live or die. I looked around and saw how many people were there in that room with me who cared about her. There was my family, but also her coworkers from Viewpoint. After working for Viewpoint for almost a decade, Mom became one of the most loved faculty members at Viewpoint. In the waiting room at two o’clock in the morning were the Thompson family, my swim coaches Greg Bisheff and Annie Stefanec, and Associate Head of School Paul Rosenbaum. In the days following her surgery, there were many others who came to the hospital to visit and show their support for her. Mom spent the next three months recovering from surgery, slowly gaining back her cognitive functions. Today, she still suffers from memory loss and is partially immobile on the left side of her body, but don’t let that fool you; my mom is still the same funny, sassy, and caring person that every person knew her as. I am grateful that I still have her in my life today, and thankful for all the support that everyone has shown me and my family. My mom is now in a skilled nursing facility, not far from home, where she loves to have friends and family come and visit. If you wish to spend time with her, please reach out to me; it would mean the world to her to see familiar faces.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jill Cohen Shaw
Organizer
Calabasas, CA
Hana Eicher
Beneficiary
