Some of you may know me as Ms. Lassiter; to others I am your Aunt Sherry, Granny, or Mrs. Sherry. I was the formal owner of Lassiter’s Daycare in Sunbury, North Carolina. Last year I found out I had end-stage primary biliary cirrhosis, a disease of the liver. There is no known cure. My doctors at Duke University Medical Center have told me a liver transplant is my only hope for survival.

Transplants are life-saving but financially draining. Currently I am unable to work due to my deteriorating health so I have no income. Though I receive some assistance from Medicaid it does not cover such out-of-pocket expenses as travel to and from the center for me and my caregiver, relocation expenses, and the astronomical cost of the anti-rejection medication I will need to take for the rest of my life.