Emily Progin, PR and Communications Coordinator
eprogin@helphopelive.org / 800.642.8399
Release: Immediate
MOM OF THREE AND COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER FUNDRAISES FOR NEW HEART
“This Gives My Family and Me Hope for the Future”
NOVATO, Calif.—At just 43 years old, Manoela Vieira is fighting for her life and awaiting a heart transplant, her only hope for a healthier life. A mother of three, community volunteer, and successful marketing professional, Manoela has just a five-year life expectancy without a transplant. She has turned to the national nonprofit Help Hope Live to fundraise for the immense out-of-pocket costs associated with the procedure that will give her back her future.
Until 2019, Manoela had it all: she was a successful global marketing manager with a loving husband raising thriving, active girls. Out of the blue, she experienced a cardiac arrest, leaving her in an induced coma for 17 days, and the fight for her life began. In September 2021, her heart failure progressed to the point where she joined the waiting list for a new heart at the heart transplant center of UCSF. Unable to work because of the medical risks, her marketing career is on hold as she waits for “the call” that a heart is available.
Manoela has a lot to fight for. She and her husband of nearly 20 years, Jorge Chaib Jr., have three girls together: Fada, 18, Sathya, 17, and Yasmin, who is just 12. Fada is a senior at Novato High School who attends French classes at Marin—she’s been accepted at three universities and hopes to be a marine biologist. She works at Red Boy Pizza in her spare time with Sathya, a junior. Talented swimmer Yasmin trains on the Novato Riptide swimming team at Marin’s Indian Valley Campus. The Vieira Chaib family has lived in the area since 2019.
Manoela has always taken time out of her busy work schedule to give back to her community, wherever she is. She and her children help deliver food and supplies for the homeless communities in Novato, Oakland, and Berkeley. She volunteers regularly with assistance programs for the local Brazilian and Capoeira communities: born in Brazil, Manoela once managed her own relief charity called Pequenos Gestos, meaning “small gestures”.
Financial support is a critical part of her journey. Manoela will need to spend at least 30 days in the hospital post-transplant and may need to stop working for six months or longer as she recovers. Her surgery co-payment with insurance exceeds $10,000 with an additional $10,000 out-of-pocket per year in anticipated post-transplant medication costs, which she will need to continue to take for the organ’s lifetime. She must also cover the cost of COBRA insurance payments of $680 per month while she is out of work. While she qualifies for some disability program support in California, as the primary breadwinner in her family, Manoela says the disability payments don’t come close to covering her salary.
That’s why Manoela and her family have turned to the trusted medical fundraising nonprofit Help Hope Live. Manoela’s fundraising campaign is tax deductible for donors, medically verified, and won’t jeopardize her benefits. Donations can be made at: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/19871/
Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and all funds raised will be managed by the nonprofit to cover verified medical and related expenses. Help Hope Live verifies medical and financial need for every patient.
Help Hope Live is a national nonprofit that specializes in engaging communities in secure, tax-deductible fundraising campaigns for people who need a transplant or are affected by a catastrophic injury or illness. Since 1983, campaigns organized by Help Hope Live have raised over $158 million to pay patient expenses. ###
Written by Emily Progin
