The foundation is named after Kristina Conn, the bravest, most out going, strong, enthusiastic, hopeful, loving, energetic & magnetic person you could imagine. Kristina Conn was all of this and so much more which made the mission easy to define. Kristina was born January 4th, 1994 and appeared to be a very healthy 7 lb 15 1/2 oz baby. At 6 weeks old she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, a geneti
c disease there is no cure for. Her parents found themselves in a whirl-wind of information, doctors and new things they had to learn in order to keep their daughter alive. Kristina's entire life consisted of frequent doctor visits to specialist over 100 miles away from where she and her family lived, multiple & lengthy hospital stays also over 100 miles away from where they lived, multiple surgeries, tons of medications that had to be taken several times each day and hours of respiratory treatments each day just to stay alive and attempt to stay as healthy as possible. Even though she faced this every morning, she lived every single day to the absolute fullest. She didn't let he condition define her, she said it many times over in her short 21 years and would always say "CF isn't who I am, it's just something I have" and she was right. You see, because of her condition, her family made many sacrifices over the years. They lived pay check to pay check, stress everyday wondering if treatments would be covered by insurance, keeping illness that was all around her far enough away to keep her healthy, knowing that any illness could take their daughters life, finding ways to include the other children so they didn't feel left behind, worrying about how to pay the bills and afford her medication at the same time, remembering the medicine schedules so nothing was missed, making sure no medicine ran out because the ramification could be life threatening. Wondering how to come up with gas money for the long trips to the doctors and hoping their jobs wouldn't let them go due to frequent time off, yet still trying to keep life as normal as possible and not let the stress affect the children. The stresses that came with her diagnosis took a severe toll on the family but there was nothing that could be done about it. They were placed in a situation that was completely out of their control and they had to simply make the best out of a very trying situation. Fortunately. her parents found a way to stand strong, together and worked really hard at getting through each day the best they could...never giving up on each other. Family life was ALWAYS stressful but for the most part happy none-the-less. Every year around the holidays, which was Kristina's favorite time of year, she and her family would gather items to hand out to homeless people they encountered. One year they took up a collection of items, from blankets to socks, food and money to distribute all around town. Kristina used to get very upset when she would see homeless people and wanted to do what should could to help. She was a symbol of strength as she carried out each of her days. People admired her for her strength and for her compassion for those in need. Other kids her age would confide in her and ask her how "she does it" cause they didn't know what to do in their own situation. One year, both her parents had surgery at the same time and were both laid up. For the first time, she had to be the care giver and take care of them. She thought that was the most amazing thing and gloated about it like it was some amazing task. For the first time in her life, she was not the patient and they were dependent on her...a moment that she was very proud of (sad actually when you think about it). After Kristina passed away on October 3, 2015, the family was obviously devastated. They knew they wanted to do something in her honor and memory but struggled with what. A permanent plaque marker at the beach was decided on and was to be placed along the boardwalk at "her spot", but that wasn't enough. They wanted something that would make more of an impact on peoples lives, just like she did...and so the foundation came to be. Kristina always wanted to help others and never let anyone feel sorry for themselves. She gave people courage and strength to face another day and love and hope that everything would be okay no matter what. Because she was able to emote these things to so many people, the rest of the pieces for the foundation just fell into place. On what would have been Kristina's 23rd birthday, during the reveal of the permanent plaque marker, along the boardwalk at the beach, Kristina Conn Foundation was announced as open for business. The vision for the mission was immediate. It was clear to help families in their time of need because they were one of those families that could have used the help.
