Emily Progin, Content Manager
eprogin@helphopelive.org / 800.642.8399
Release: Immediate
SPINAL CORD INJURY AWARENESS MONTH: JENA’S STORY
2023 Spinal Cord Injury Changed Everything for Chester Co. 62-Year-Old
THORNDALE, Pa.—In March 2023, a routine back surgery left Jena Cavanagh of Chester County with a life-altering spinal cord injury. During Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month this September, Jena is sharing her story and asking for the community’s ongoing support to over overwhelming out-of-pocket medical costs.
Prior to March 2023, Jena put her good health to good use. She spent her downtime gardening, supporting her mother, and enjoying the company of her two dogs, Jax and Silas. She poured advocacy and energy into a three-decade career supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities to secure safe housing and independence through PA lifesharing programs.
“I am no longer able to do any of those things,” explained Jena.
A routine back surgery left Jena with paralysis from the hips down and limited feeling and movement from the chest down. Jena was forced to retire from her career. Her priority today is simple: to continue being able to live in her own home with her husband, Steve, in their beloved Chester County community.
That priority includes a massive out-of-pocket financial burden. Just to return home after injury, Jena’s home had to be extensively modified. Accessible transportation, daily medical supplies, and emergency care all produce ongoing and overwhelming costs that are impossible to meet alone.
That’s why Jena turned to the nonprofit Help Hope Live for medical fundraising. The community has raised over $115,000 in Jena’s honor since June 2023 at https://helphopelive.org/campaign/22130/
Despite the community’s generosity, costs are never-ending—one of the little-known realities about life after a spinal cord injury that Jena is illuminating during Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month.
To remain at home, Jena must cover the out-of-pocket cost of caregiving, home modifications, home health supplies, medical equipment, and more. If she cannot cover the costs, she will have to move into a nursing home—and “even then, I would have to pay for the nursing home out of my monthly SSDI and retirement. I will be allowed to have only $30 per month free for spending on ‘personal needs.’”
Community support is not just financial but emotional for Jena: “I can’t imagine what my day-to-day life would be like without the donations in my honor graciously made by my community so far, and I’ve found that the emotional support of family and friends has been much more effective than I ever expected.”
The Chester County community can offer life-changing help and hope to Jena and her family in this ongoing hour of need.
Unlike a GoFundMe campaign, donations to Help Hope Live 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 $188 million to pay patient expenses. ###
