27/03/2026
Starting a nonprofit was never on my BINGO card, but there was a point where everything shifted for me...being in lockdown with three kids under 3, feeling overwhelmed, stretched, and honestly just trying to get through each day.
That’s when I started doing my own work and realized something that changed everything: What I thought were personality traits… were actually survival patterns.
And once I understood that, everything began to shift—how I showed up, how I responded, how I felt in my body.
That transformation made me think about my patients because mental health and physical health go hand in hand.
After years of caring for patients with sickle cell and chronic pain, I was seeing the same patterns—pain, stress, burnout, feeling unheard—not just in my patients, but in families and even providers.
It became clear that if we truly want to improve outcomes, we have to look beyond the diagnosis, because care works best when we look at the whole person.
🎯 That’s how the HEM Foundation was born.
MISSION:
✅ to improve health outcomes through a more holistic lens—through education, community, scholarships, and experiences like THRIVE.
✅ to create space for education, connection, and real tools that support the mind, body, and overall experience of living with chronic illness.
Care works best when people feel supported, informed, and seen.
