Testimonials

Cathie Eason, Professional Edge Realty

Dear C.A.R.E. Board of Directors, Advocates and Sponsors,

On Saturday January 20th, 2007 I opened my mail and I received your letter and check announcing I was a recipient of a very generous grant from the C.A.R.E. organization. I don’t even know where to begin to say thank you… Words I try to express on paper cannot even begin to describe my feelings of gratitude, appreciation and overwhelming thankfulness!!! I must admit I cried instantly… first out of relief, and then from the feeling of being so blessed, that someone (most of whom I barely know) gave such a generous gift to me and my children. I wanted to take this time to share a little about myself & situation and the magnitude of what these means to me.

I was inspired right out of high school to be in real estate. During college I interned for a S.A.R. and when I was ready to go out on my own I achieved Masters Club status my first full year. I quickly earned “Life Masters Club” status and after 12 years in the real estate industry working full time, becoming a broker, prospering in the best & worst of the real estate market, preparing for my future & retirement, saving for my children’s college and having well over 6 months of savings stashed away for any emergency, when my life’s dreams drastically changed course when I found several fast growing lumps in my breast May 2006.

May 26th, 06 I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer at age 36. I had a full Bi-Lateral Mastectomy in June of 2006, Chemo & Herceptin infusions started in August, Chemo ended in October, but the weekly infusions will continue for one full year till 8/07. I started Tamoxifin daily, which will continue for 5 years. I am now in the preventative and reconstructive stages; this process can take an additional 6-8 months. I go to the doctor’s office every week (at separate times & different doctors) for fills in my skin expanders, blood test and infusions. So my life is filled with trips to doctors office’s and prescription refill runs. I am very grateful and thankful for especially to my boyfriend who drove me to over 100 doctor’s appointments in 9 months and 7 surgeries, my church & friends whom brought me meals for months and helped with my personal care in shifts, my house and with my children.

I found that after 6 months of radical cancer treatment, I was not able to work and there was no sign of when I would be able to. And because of the downturn in the real estate market, all the agents working for me had to get other jobs or moved away. The money I had saved was completely gone, the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills were covered, but I still had my percentage of medical deductibles responsibility and co-pays. And after exhausting every resource that I had in trying to keep my household running financially, I had to start selling of things inside my home and living off the remaining equity in my house. I shut down my main office space, cut out every unnecessary bill and expenditure I could and yet there seemed to be no end. All I had was hope and prayer.

I just finished 7 of 9 surgeries a month ago and I have another surgery in 3 months. So between garage sales and selling things on the internet, I am still unable to work because I could not drive due to the medications & treatments that are necessary for my reconstruction and cancer treatment. Then I remembered back a couple months ago a friend and loan officer- Tiffany Cano mentioned a relief fund for Real Estate agents. I was inevitably at the point at loosing everything, so I applied for help through the C.A.R.E. organization. I never thought it would get to the point of running out of options, especially after I had just spent the last 10 years of my life volunteering for committees through my church, my children’s school and through S.A.R.. I spent years taking food to sick and needy people, donated money to many worthy causes, volunteered my time in the political arena and pretty much anything I could get involved in. I never thought I would ever have to ask for help with anything.

So here I am 8 months into radical breast cancer treatment and another 8 months to go. Who would have ever thought this would happen? Not me, I have always been exceptionally healthy, energetic, and even bionic at times with my determination and drive to achieve and live all the wonderful experiences that life has to offer. But I was stopped right in my tracks; everything including my wealth, my health and well being was ripped violently away from me. Right now, as hard as it is for me to be still and heal, I am just literally trying to survive day by day in every way.

As I sit writing this letter, reflecting on every tiny to tremendously helpful thing someone has done to support me or encourage me. I sit here alive, healing, feeling blessed, hopeful and optimistic. Although I still have a long journey and battle ahead of me, I know the angels, like C.A.R.E. are watching over me. I am truly blessed.

The day will come when I am back to myself and wanting to save and conquer the world. The C.A.R.E organization will be at the top of my list to give back in anyway I can; my time, fundraising, financially and definitely spreading the word.

Thank you C.A.R.E from the bottom of my heart for giving me such a substantial gift and a chance for more time to heal with less stress, and yes, this gift definitely “makes my difficult circumstances a bit easier”!

Justin Denton

On August 27, 2004, Justin Denton was working to prepare for a community rodeo in Lincoln, California, an event he had planned and organized. The horse he was riding lost it’s balance and fell backward, tossing Justin to the hard ground. He immediately was knocked unconscious, and sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. In that moment, his life and that of his family, including his wife and four children, was drastically changed. After three attempts to revive him, he was in a coma and not expected to survive the night. Justin did survive. He endured about two months in a coma and several surgeries. He has received live-in care at three facilities, including a five-month stay in a rehabilitation hospital near San Francisco. He has had to re-learn even the most basic skills… Swallowing, walking, talking… and he continues to work through physical therapy and more complex tasks such as daily living skills, reasoning, logic, and memory.He is currently a patient in and Easter Seals rehabilitation program in Sacramento. Medical coverage has been an ongoing battle; he has been denied coverage for his care at his two most recent facilities. His family heartily thanks C.A.R.E. For his contribution. The funds have helped with travel and lodging costs so that Justin’s family can be with him and support him while he was in the Bay Area, and with ongoing care and expenses related to his injury. Thank you for C.A.R.E.-ing!!

Craig A. Williams, RE/MAX Gold

As a recent recipient of your programs success I would like to express my gratitude for the gift you bestowed upon me and my family.

Your kindness is overwhelming and very much appreciated. In this time of physical illness and emotional stress, your gracious gift lessons our financial burden, and my wife and I will never forget your thoughtfulness. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to donate to a program to help others.

Sharon Cordes, RE/MAX Gold

I wish to express my sincerest and most heartfelt thanks to C.A.R.E., for truly being a “beacon of hope” in my life during a most difficult time when I was ill and unable to work.Your understanding, kindness, and support were a revelation and an inspiration to me, renewing my faith in the goodness of people. And your financial assistance was so very much needed, and helped not only to lessen my burdens and worries, but also allowed me to focus on healing, so that I could return to work.I shall not forget your decency and true humanity

Cindy Reynolds, Security Pacific Real Estate

C.A.R.E. has given me the freedom to concentrate on myself and getting healthy. We are blessed in our Real Estate Community to have such a wonderful program locally here to help when times get tough. Thank you to everyone at C.A.R.E. and the truly caring professionals who have made this program possible for me and many others. God bless you all.

C. Mega

Thank You C.A.R.E. After the car accident I was looking at several months of rehabilitation. Unable to walk or drive I needed in home care. With C.A.R.E. I could focus on my health and breathe a little easier. You are the first organization I’ve seen that actually gives back to the real estate community. Thank You Again.

Kim Farris

Words cannot express my overwhelming gratitude to your organization for helping me during what has become one of the greatest challenges of my life.I have been a single parent, with no living relatives, other than my son for the past thirteen years. Being a realtor meant the world to me because it allowed me to give my child the very best upbringing that I so desperately wanted for him. Real Estate has been very good to my son and I. You can only imagine how devastating my injury was since it happened at a very pivotal time in my son’s life: his senior year in high school.Being self-employed and a single parent always holds a certain amount of risk and while I thought I was somewhat prepared for an emergency, I never dreamed I would soon face the number of challenges my injury would incur. Had it not been for C.A.R.E., I do not know how we could have survived. What I hoped would be a short recuperation period, turned into a living nightmare. After several months of being very limited to the amount of work I could do, the doctors finally told me that I would have to stop working altogether for awhile in order to allow myself to heal. Not only did I find myself out of work, with no means of support, I was reaching the point of financial ruin. My greatest fear was that my son would not complete his senior year of high school because of his desire to find work and help me. His dreams of going to college had already been dashed for the time being and I could not allow that to happen. Unfortunately, I had no one to turn to for help. Then in my moment of desperation, C.A.R.E. stepped in.Because of the financial gift that was given to me thru C.A.R.E., I was able to hold it together while I researched other options and, thankfully, my son graduated high school in June 2004. There has been no greater day in my life than the day I watched my child walk across that stage and receive his diploma. It gave me new found courage to continue to fight for my recovery and soon I hope to return to work in the business I have come to love.I have always had a great deal of love and respect for Diane Mannering and Financial Title. I would like to acknowledge Diane Mannering for being one of the pioneers of the C.A.R.E. organization. She has done more for people, such as myself, than anyone else I know. She is famous for developing and organizing one of our favorite events of the year, Cabaret Night!It has always been one of my greatest joys to perform for my colleagues and friends each year at this event. I have always had a great sense of pride to think that I was helping others in some small way by singing in this annual show. Never, in my wildest dreams did I think I would someday become one of the very people that this organization was designed to help in a time of crisis. I cannot tell you how saddened I am that I will be unable to perform this year. However, God willing, just wait until next year!To all my friends, colleagues and affiliates of my many years in Real Estate, “Thank You!”. Your contributions to this organization have helped many other people in this crazy industry that we all love so much. While I can only speak for myself, I do not know how I would have survived without you all.I hope they read this letter at Cabaret Night this year. If they do, then I want you all to know what a very important event this is. Please know that whatever contributions you make tonight, might just be there for YOU someday when you are really in need of assistance.

Words really can’t express my gratitude but I seem to have written a few too many here. So, I will close my letter with the only words that really matter. Thank you all and especially C.A.R.E. for being there when no one else was and with the renewed spirit that C.A.R.E. provided to me, I take great pride in saying: “I’LL BE BACK!”