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Maurice is a dialysis patient who has been busy getting a team together for the walk-a-thon. He was excited to attend the Birmingham kick-off last week as a team captain. “I believe we will name our team Showtime because every time we come to dialysis we have fun. It’s always a show.” said Mr. Simon. Maurice is passionate about volunteering for the Alabama Kidney Foundation because of the help he received when in need. He is raising his two children and caring for his mother after a stroke. He was the only one able to work in the house and was devastated to lose his job of over six years. “Looked like nobody cared and things went from bad to worse” said Mr. Simon. This past December the AKF was able to help his family by paying a $250.00 power bill. His Social Worker Jan was able to get gift cards from a local church for him to buy a few presents for his children. “If it wasn’t for Jan and the Kidney Foundation my kids would not have had a Christmas. Paying my power bill, that was my Christmas present right there.” Mr. Simon has participated in the Birmingham walk for the past three and is looking forward to raising money as a team captain this year. “Thank you from me and my family, especially my kids. I’m always going to have the AKF in my life, even when I get a transplant and get better.” said Maurice.

Alabama Transportation Assistance Program

Thomas graduated Suma Cum Laude from Syracuse University and spent his career as a senior legal assistant on New York’s Wall Street. When his sister died of kidney disease he was left as the sole caregiver for his Mom so he moved to his mother’s hometown of Clanton care for her. He has enjoyed living in Clanton and had begun a second career away from Law. “I was a working guy, loved my job and loved going to work” said Thomas. His plans were interrupted when he recently suffered two heart attacks, which has contributed to his kidney failure and caused him to begin dialysis just 5 months ago. Because of dialysis he is unable to work and therefore unable to pay bills and transportation costs to treatment. “It’s a big adjustment, I miss working. It’s not easy having a disability and not being able to work”, said Thomas. The Alabama Kidney Foundation helped pay for a water bill, medicines and his transportation to dialysis. “The AKF helped me with a lot of stuff. It took a lot of stress off me to know help was on the way’’ said Thomas. “The AKF has been very good to me, I appreciate that they helped me out a lot.”

Daily Living Needs

Michelle has been on dialysis for two years after suffering from high blood pressure. This past summer her power bills were unusually high because of poor insulation in her mobile home. In addition to this, she had a leaking roof that had to be fixed “It’s so hot, and I’m trying to fix the roof myself” said Michelle. These extra expenses left her without enough money to pay all her monthly bills. She received help from the Alabama Kidney Foundation to pay her power bill. “The AKF has been very helpful and everyone I’ve meet from there is nice,” said Michelle.

The Kelly family from Anniston has had tragedy strike twice. In June of 2005, Terry Kelly was diagnosed with End-Stage Retinal Disease. Then in January 2006 he lost a kidney to cancer. While battling kidney disease and receiving dialysis treatment six times a week, Mr. Kelly’s oldest daughter Kala, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She underwent an eighteen hour surgery at Children’s Hospital. Read the rest of the story.

A few years ago, blood work confirmed that Jerry of Brookside, Alabama, was suffering from renal Kidney failure. With that diagnosis, he began hemodialysis at Fresenius in Gardendale, three days a week for 3 hours at a time. After a year and half of hemodialysis, Jerry was having problems with port access and required a number of surgeries. Read the rest of the story.