Somewhere in Newark, Baltimore, or Metro Detroit this week, a student is knocking on a door. Inside is someone living with a chronic illness who is homebound or near homebound, managing the groceries, the laundry, the long quiet afternoons. Over the next hour, they’ll get the help they need. Whether that’s support with the dishes or a lively game of Scrabble and meaningful conversation. For the student who’s knocking, they will learn what living with illness actually looks like, in a way no textbook ever will.
That exchange is the whole of Lori’s Hands. Hundreds of students and clients take part every week, across three chapters — and it stays possible because people like you choose to fund it.
What your gift does for clients
Our clients are living with cancer, heart failure, MS, and other chronic conditions that make staying independent at home harder than it used to be. Every week, students arrive to help with the things that pile up when leaving the house is difficult, whether that’s putting away groceries or enjoying a walk together. Just as importantly, they arrive. Clients tell us the visits give them something to look forward to. Our clients aren’t recipients of care — they’re contributors to a meaningful partnership in which they learn from and support one another.
$75 covers a new student’s enrollment, supporting everything they need before their first visit.
What your gift does for students
Our volunteers are the next generation of nurses, physicians, social workers, and public health leaders. Before their first visit, they complete training in topics such as chronic illness, caregiving, health equity, and community resources. Then they spend a semester (often more) making weekly visits to the same client, learning about the realities of aging in place and healthcare. Students tell us it changed their career. Many tell us it changed how they see their own communities. That’s a return that compounds for decades.
$250 covers a full year of visits for a client who needs the support.
Every gift, at every size, keeps a door open somewhere.
Choose the way you’d like to give below — and thank you for helping make sure this work continues.
The Sunny Day Fund provides direct support to our clients. Thanks to our incredible network of student volunteers, we’re able to provide lots of client support for no money at all. Every now and then, though, we find ourselves wanting to give back a little more. Examples of Sunny Day Fund projects include a day of professional yard work, a trip to a baseball game, or an upgraded assistive device, but could include anything that makes life a little better for the clients who teach our students so much. Students apply to the Sunny Day Fund on behalf of their clients only after researching other resources that could be used by their clients.
Sunny Day Fund
The Student Volunteer Scholarship Fund was created to support the students who are the backbone of our organization. Some students who are supporting themselves financially may be limited in the number of hours that they can volunteer for Lori’s Hands. By providing financial support, we provide our most dedicated students with the opportunity to spend more time working with our clients. Scholarships are granted on a competitive basis based on a written application, including a creative and thoughtful essay, demonstration of financial need, and documentation of significant volunteer commitment through Lori’s Hands.
Scholarship Fund
Make Lori’s Hands a part of your legacy!
By including Lori’s Hands in your estate planning, you can leave a lasting legacy and ensure that our mission of building mutually beneficial partnerships between community members with chronic illness and college students continues for years to come.
Legacy gifts can take many forms, such as leaving a gift to Lori’s Hands in your will or donating assets such as retirement accounts, life insurance policies, or stocks.
Contact Lori’s Hands to learn more about legacy giving opportunities.
Contact us about Legacy Giving
To make a donation by check, please make your check payable to “Lori’s Hands, Inc.” and mail it to:
Lori’s Hands, Inc.
PO Box 980266
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
Lori’s Hands is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. EIN: 45-3984559
