In this Press Kit, you’ll find our website information, press contact, social media links, mission statement, key statistics, our history, and more.
Download This Press Kit:
Website Link:
Donate Link:
https://helphopelive.org/donate/donate-to-help-hope-live/
Press Contact:
Emily Progin, Content Manager
800-642-8399 ex. 38
Socials:
Facebook @helphopeliveorg
X (Formerly Twitter) @helphopeliveorg
Instagram @helphopeliveorg
LinkedIn Help Hope Live
YouTube @helphopelive
TikTok @helphopelive
Logos & QR Code:
Mission Statement:
Since 1983, our 501(c)(3) nonprofit has supported community-based fundraising for people with unmet medical expenses and related costs due to cell and organ transplants or catastrophic injuries and illnesses.
About Our Mission:
Help Hope Live has the highest possible 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. We are ranked nationally in the top 1% of all U.S. charities.
We believe that a medical crisis shouldn’t become a financial crisis™.
For over 40 years, Help Hope Live has been showing clients and families how to bring together a network of relatives, friends, and neighbors in fundraising efforts to help cover the cost of uninsured medical expenses. These efforts play a critical role in helping our clients recover and maintain their health and independence.
Funds raised through donations and community events not only sustain our nonprofit’s program and services but also enable special initiatives that impact local families, from emergency needs grants to adaptive bike giveaways for children in the tristate area living with disabilities.
Key Statistics:
- Annually, we help more than 5,600 families with trusted medical fundraising.
- Last year alone, we paid out $11.7 million to cover medical needs.
- Since 1983, Help Hope Live has raised over $194 million to help with out-of-pocket medical expenses and related costs.
- Since 1983, our mission has helped 25,000+ individuals and families.
- We are trusted by 8,800+ medical professionals who recommend Help Hope Live as the trusted medical fundraising resource for their patients.
Our History:
Help Hope Live was founded in 1983 by a Philadelphia transplant surgeon and his wife, a nurse, to help patients fund lifesaving heart transplants, then considered experimental.
By 1995, advances in transplantation and demand for our services lead us to expand our mission to support fundraising for all solid organ, marrow, and cell transplant candidates.
In 2000, a spinal cord injury rocked our local community. Witnessing the immense financial burden that severe injuries can place on individuals and families, we expanded our support and took on our first Catastrophic Injury Campaign.
For more than two decades, our organization was known as National Transplant Assistance Fund. By 2011, our scope and impact had far outgrown our original identity. We changed our name to Help Hope Live for better inclusion of all our clients and to reflect what people do each time they give to, volunteer for, support, or recommend our organization.
In 2014, Help Hope Live was ranked the No. 1 nonprofit in Philadelphia by Charity Navigator for our top 4-star rating. We continue to be ranked nationally in the top 1% of all charities evaluated.
By 2016, we expanded our services to include support for Catastrophic Illness Campaigns covering a wide range of rare diseases impacting mobility, health, and quality of life. The list of illnesses in the Help Hope Live network grows every year.
In 2017, Kelly L. Green, a former client,became our Executive Director.
Our Leadership: Executive Director Kelly L. Green
“I not only believe in the mission of Help Hope Live, I once used the service and it completely changed my life.”
Her mom, a Philadelphia schoolteacher, was told to have $15,000 available for out-of-pocket costs before she could be listed for a life-saving kidney transplant.
Even with great health insurance, out-of-pocket costs added up fast. Kelly and her family faced not only the dire need for financial help but also the emotional challenge of asking for it. That’s when her mom’s social worker suggested Help Hope Live.
Kelly’s family raised the funds they needed with Help Hope Live to get her mom a life-changing transplant. A decade later, she took on a leadership role with our nonprofit to advocate for other families facing significant medical challenges.
Under her leadership, Help Hope Live:
- Proudly serves individuals and families in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
- Expanded the conditions we cover to include fundraising campaigns for cancer, COVID-19, and mental health to meet the demand for our services.
- Strengthened its financial stability to reaffirm our mission and impact for decades to come.
- Offered a safe haven and seamless support for patients who sought help from other platforms and continued to face hardship or lost key benefits.
- Received local and national recognition, including in the feature documentary Patrice: The Movie (now on Hulu) about Help Hope Live client Patrice Jetter’s fundraising journey to secure an accessible van after a GoFundMe campaign resulted in her losing her benefits.
- Partnered with the Philadelphia Flyers Alumni Association to give adaptive bikes to dozens of PA/NJ/DE families unable to afford the $5,000+ cost.
- Started Bags of Hope, anannual staff tradition, to package and deliver bags of comfort and cheer to hospitalized patients during the holidays, just as Kelly’s mother once benefitted from.
Help Hope Live in the News:
- January 2026: The Help Hope Live campaign in honor of Ms. Wheelchair California 2025, Aly Corvin, begins to go viral across social media with Aly’s Instagram presence skyrocketing in followers and her Campaign Page receiving over 100,000 views in a single month.
- December 2025: In its 4th year, our Bags of Hope tradition delivers bags of holiday cheer to local individuals and families facing holiday hospitalizations and expanded to 7 different states with help from our Ambassadors.
- December 2025: Over $252,376 is raised for Help Hope Live on GivingTuesday 2025, an 18% increase in generosity over GivingTuesday 2024.
- November 2025: 10-year-old Raymeer Bacon-El receives a customized Flyers-themed adaptive bike with the generous support of the Flyers Alumni Association and GMC.
- November 2025: A Help Hope Live campaign to support TBI survivor Lynn Knutson makes international headlines as Lynn struggled with the physical, emotional, and financial aftermath of a sudden medical crisis.
- October 2025: In its 13th year, our 2025 Live It Up! gala raises over $190,000 and brings together icons and change-makers from the local community, including returning emcee Cherri Gregg, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s Alan T. Brown, world renowned transplant surgeon Dr. Robert A. Montgomery, and Emmy-winning Patrice: The Movie documentary star Patrice Jetter.
- September 2025: The documentary Patrice: The Movie about Help Hope Live client Patrice Jetter’s fight for equality, independence, and mobility wins an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.
- August 2025: Thanks to extensive local media coverage in Philadelphia, the campaign in honor of 12-year-old Kelson Williams raises over $20,000 within hours and exceeds the family’s fundraising goal for service dog training.
- August 2025: Help Hope Live and Inglis teams up to host a screening of Patrice: The Movie in Philadelphia, including a special Q&A with Patrice, partner Garry Wickham, and director Ted Passon.
- June 2025: NFL player KJ Henry, son of transplant recipient and Help Hope Live client Keith Henry, holds his second annual Why Not Me football camp for kids and teens with all proceeds benefiting Help Hope Live.
- May 2025: In its 2nd year, the Hope Travels 5K raises over $50,000 for Help Hope Live and gathers 150+ supporters in Radnor, PA.
- April 2025: Following a shocking unprovoked attack, the community of 30-year-old New Jersey resident Dan Walker turns to Help Hope Live and raises over $50,000 in 8 days. By the end of 2025, they have raised over $125,000 to assist with out-of-pocket paralysis expenses.
See Recent News Stories:
https://helphopelive.org/category/newspress/
Frequently Asked Questions
Which topics can Executive Director Kelly L. Green speak to with expertise?
- Medical fundraising
- Medical debt
- The out-of-pocket burden of medical expenses and related costs
- Why patients are forced to fundraise
- Accessibility and disability equity
- Nonprofits and charities
What makes Help Hope Live unique?
- We provide one-on-one fundraising support from our team of specialists—free of charge for every client for a lifetime of need.
- We verify every patient’s medical condition for fraud-free fundraising.
- Funds raised can only be used to cover verified medical expenses and related costs.
- Fundraising with platforms like GoFundMe can cause patients to lose their benefits. With Help Hope Live, all donations are made to our nonprofit and administered by us, so funds typically won’t count against patient benefits.
- Donations are tax deductible for donors.
- We offer a network of resources and support beyond just fundraising to support the full wellbeing of our clients and families.
How can a patient or family seek help from Help Hope Live?
Apply for help at: https://helphopelive.org/get-started/apply/ or call 800-642-8399.
How can someone donate to Help Hope Live?
Make a tax-deductible donation at https://helphopelive.org/donate/donate-to-help-hope-live/
Key Supporters – Ambassadors & Brand Champions
Nationally, our network includes:
- Client Ambassador and disability and employment advocate Josh Basile, Esq.
- Board member “The Pushy Lawyer” aka disability advocate Kelley Brooks Simoneaux, Esq.
- Clients and YouTube influencers Roll with Cole & Charisma
- Client Ambassador and quadriplegic mom of twins and disability advocate Dani Izzie
- Son of kidney transplant fundraising client Keith Henry and NFL player KJ Henry
- Client Ambassador and TikTok influencer Rebecca Koltun
Locally, our network includes:
- The Philadelphia Flyers Alumni Association
- PA heart transplant recipient, former schoolteacher, and client Ambassador Linda Jara
- Patrice: The Movie documentary star Patrice Jetter
- Brand Champion Barrett Brooks, host and analyst on NBC Sports Philly, a two-time Emmy winner, a former Philadelphia Eagle, and Super Bowl XL Champion for the Pittsburgh Steelers
2026 Events:
- May 2026 is the annual Hope Travels 5K benefiting Help Hope Live in Radnor, PA
- September 30, 2026 is Help Hope Live’s 43nd anniversary
- October 29, 2026 is the annual Live It Up! gala benefiting Help Hope Live in Drexel Hill, PA
- December 1, 2026 is GivingTuesday
