Hopeful Hearts Foundation Archives

February is here and with it comes Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, and of course heart month. In the past decade, we have talked to a number of organizations that focus on the heart. For good reason, one out of for deaths each year is from heart disease. The translation is that over 659,000 people die in the United alone each year from heart disease. These are not just statistics but real people. To visualize this number that is over six huge football stadiums full of people each year. One person every 36 seconds, not to mention the 40,000 children will be born with congenital heart disease this year. So what do we do when are our hearts are broken?

Luckily for us, there are a multitude of amazing organizations working tirelessly to solve and tend to this problem. I thought before the month jumped into high gear we could take a moment to revisit some of the great organizations we have met who are working to reduce those numbers. Some of these go back so far that I felt like I was looking at old friends, I hope you feel the same.

Hopeful Hearts Foundation

A decade ago we talked to the Chez family about their organization, The Hopeful Hearts Foundation. The Chez family had three children all born with Congenital Heart Disease. Tragically they lost their daughter Gracie suddenly at the age of three and created the Hopeful Hearts Foundation in 2008 to keep her memory alive and to help other children suffering from CHD. The Hopeful Hearts Foundation supports families whose children have CHD and also raises funds to provide research for Congenital Heart Disease.

Camp Del Corazon

Some of you may remember Lisa Knight, a registered nurse and nonprofit founder of Camp Del Corazon. The camp is a place for children with heart-related health challenges to have fun, make friends and find fellow children going through similar health issues.

Lisa said, ” I get so filled up by it all. These kids have survived death, there are no camps for these types of kids due to their medical conditions. It transforms them. You see them show each other their scars. The most rewarding thing is when you hear children call you by your camp name when you see them years later not at camp. This year our first camper is coming back as a counselor, so to see not only these children grow up and give back but to watch my own 29-year-old daughter getting even more involved as she takes on more responsibility with her role at Camp del Corazon, is so rewarding. “

Mended Hearts

In 2017, we talked to our friends the Page family about their experience with Congenital Heart Disease in our post The Heart of the Matter. In that conversation, we learned about Max Page’s support of the organization Mended Hearts. A nonprofit that was created in 1951 to give peer support to those dealing with heart disease. Dr. Harken asked four of the first four people to ever have open heart surgery to help others facing the same experience. In 2004, Mended Hearts realized that families with children suffering from CHD also needed that same peer-to-peer support and created Mended Little Hearts.

There are hundreds of organizations working tirelessly to do research to cure Congenital Heart Disease. These are just a few of the amazing people working to heal broken hearts. Next week we will continue our look back with Francie Paul from Saving Tiny Hearts in our podcast. I’m so excited to share our conversation about the incredible work she and her team have been doing to help find a cure. Until then, wishing you all a wonderful heart month full of love.

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I recently met an amazing mom at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, who shared with me her son’s journey of Congenital Heart Disease. February being heart month, I wanted to share this story, about her friends the Chez family. A true story of the heart.

Adam and Terra Chez are parents whose three children were all born with Congenital Heart Disease. Although, 1 out of every 100 babies are born with congenital heart defects, discovering that all your children suffer is an unimaginable and overwhelming experience. The Chez family discovered that their twins, Gracie and Luke had congenital heart disease in utero.

Their twins both had open heart surgeries in their first six months of life. Gracie had a second surgery and then died unexpectedly at age 3 on January 9, 2008. Despite their shock and despair the Chez family was determined to keep their sweet daughter’s memory alive.

“God showed us simply how much we are not in control of anyone’s destiny, not even our children, nothing can change the ultimate plan God has for us. Our hearts began to feel the need to help others; it was then that we decided to pour our hearts into a foundation and give back. In April of 2008, Hopeful Hearts was established.”

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Hopeful Hearts goal has been to help build both awareness and support for all families that have been affected by congenital heart disease. The Chez are committed to helping fund research for heart valve replacement and for the care involved from the corrective surgery through the healing and recovery process.

The following year, in August 2009, Adam and Terra were blessed with another child, Abigail, who also suffered from the disease.

Now with renewed determination to help families like their own, Adam and Terra have committed to promoting the health of children with congenital heart defects and cardiac disease, while honoring their children Luke and Abbey who live with Tetralogy of Fallot and the memory of their daughter Gracie. ” Our hearts are filled with the loving memory of our daughter and hope for the future of Luke, Abbey and all children who confront congenital heart disease with courageous hearts.”

“Our life was forever changed after finding out about our children’s heart conditions. Our hope was to possibly find a way to bring families together and support those who were going through the same devastating experience we ourselves had been through. We wanted to be able to give back for all that we felt was given to us, through God’s Grace.”

A true story of love and making a difference for others from the heart.

Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2012 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

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