Pledge to make a difference, together.
$5,218 raised via 34 donations
Based in the Bay Area and operating globally, ANGEL AID CARES offers relief services to caregivers through sustainable health and wellness training, transformative retreats, and a globally connective mother-to-mother network. ANGEL AID CARES believes in uplifting the family by caring for the caregivers, particularly mothers who are the primary caregiver 82% of the time. Founder & CEO, Cristol Barrett O'Loughlin, illustrates the unthinkable realities of losing three older brothers to the rare genetic disease Mucopolysaccharidosis, as well as the family difficulties (and triumphs!) while caring for children with a life-limiting illness in her TEDx talk Caring for the Caregivers. To learn more about Cristol and ANGEL AID CARES visit www.angelaidcares.org.
ONE IN FIFTEEN PEOPLE suffer from uncured rare genetic diseases worldwide – the World Health Organization (WHO) reports more than 350 million families are in deep medical and emotional crisis. Half the patient population is children and a third of these children will not live past their fifth birthday. Despite the billions of dollars invested in research, science and clinical trials, there are zero (0) cures for any rare disease. In reality there is a global ‘blind spot’ in supporting the emotional wellbeing of patients suffering from rare diseases, their caregivers (3x) and professionals supporting rare families (5x) – more than 2.8 billion people worldwide are grappling with grief, depression, anxiety, isolation and hopelessness. Raregivers™ by ANGEL AID is an interactive, AI-powered mental health education program that helps patients, caregivers, doctors, nurses, genetics counselors, social workers (and all others) address the emotional realities of palliative-care decisions facing rare disease families. We know from Military and Senior communities how critical it is to ‘Whole Family Quality of Life’ to honor and support the emotions of patients and caregivers. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to scale the multilingual versions of our Raregivers™ program will ensure ALL rare families are offered emotional wellbeing alongside medical support in ALL countries, including low and middle income countries (LMICs) where medical resources are limited. Emotional support is critical. Our goal is to provide emotional support to 3.5 million Raregivers™ by 2026 across 200+ languages worldwide, including tribal communities within LMIC countries. The Raregivers™ program was vetted by an Independent Ethics Review Board (IRB) at Sydney General Hospital, University of New South Wales and Epilepsy Foundation of Australia. This highly-effective, disease-agnostic, DEI-led program has been successfully utilized since 2018 in English-speaking countries (USA, Canada, Australia) and was piloted in Spanish in 2023 (USA, Mexico). We are aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals #3 (Health & Wellbeing) and #5 (Gender Equality) ~ as medical events/trauma/diagnosis disproportionately impact women who are the primary caregivers in 82% of families living with rare genetic diseases. With $1.5 million in funding, we can support 3.5 millions Raregivers™ by 2026. Support ANGEL AID today. angelaidcares.org
Do you work for this organization?