If you know Tina, you know she would never ask for help.

She’s the kind of person who has spent her entire life giving to others without ever expecting anything in return. Whether it was helping a neighbor, handing out survival bags to homeless, supporting a food pantry, donating to charities, gofundme’s, or simply being there for someone who needed her whether it was through her business or personally, Tina never ignored a need. Tina has always been the first person to step forward. She has literally given the shirt off her back to help someone else.

Today, I’m asking for her.

Writing these words is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do because asking for help has never been how we’ve lived our lives.

My name is Michele, and I’ve known Tina for eighteen years. We’ve shared our lives together for the past fourteen. During that time, I’ve watched her quietly change lives in ways most people will never know.

When most people our age were beginning to think about slowing down and planning for retirement, Tina chose a different path.

We became emergency foster parents because children needed a safe place to land. What soon moved to adoption when a baby came into our care. Fate placed us for something much bigger. We couldn’t bear the thought of siblings being separated, so our family grew. Today we are raising three beautiful children together because Tina believed they deserved to stay together, be loved, and have a real family.

That is who she is.

She doesn’t walk away from people who need her.

As our family was working to rebuild after our business was devastated by a contamination event that led to ongoing legal proceedings, life dealt us another unimaginable blow. Just fourteen months later, in September 2025, Tina was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

She underwent surgery, radiation therapy, and courageously attempted chemotherapy. After just one treatment, her body suffered a severe reaction that required hospitalization and also injured her heart. Because of those complications, additional chemotherapy now carries significant risks, and there is no guarantee it would eliminate the cancer.

When her treatment was complete, we believed we had finally turned the corner. We allowed ourselves to hope that we could begin rebuilding our lives. Tina was deemed cancer free April 30th 2026.

That celebrating abruptly came to a just 2 weeks later after a routine scan, we received the heartbreaking news that the cancer had returned, now in her lungs.

Today, Tina’s medical records are being reviewed by multiple specialists and treatment centers as we explore every appropriate option available to her. Because her cancer is rare and aggressive, and because standard chemotherapy is no longer a realistic path due to the serious complications she experienced, we are consulting with several programs that specialize in advanced and integrative approaches to treatment.

Each program is carefully reviewing her records to determine whether she is a candidate and to recommend the treatment plan best suited to her specific diagnosis. The estimated cost of these programs ranges from approximately $120,000 to $150,000, not including travel, lodging, medications, supportive therapies, or the income we will lose while traveling for treatment.

Like so many families facing serious illness, we have done everything we could before asking anyone for help.

Months of treatment, travel, medications, time away from work, and everyday living expenses exhausted the financial resources we had worked so hard to build. We used our savings, relied on credit, and explored every financial option available to us, including the equity in our home. Unfortunately, after everything we have already endured, those options are now extremely limited.

Our family is also involved in ongoing legal proceedings related to the contamination event that devastated our business before Tina’s diagnosis. Those matters remain unresolved and continue to place additional financial strain on our family, but they do nothing to address the urgent decisions we must make today about Tina’s care.

Our goal is not to raise money for one specific clinic. Our goal is to ensure that when the specialists complete their evaluations and we choose the treatment that offers Tina the best opportunity, we are financially able to move forward immediately without losing valuable time.

If there is one thing I know about Tina, it’s that she would never stop fighting for someone she loves.

So I won’t stop fighting for her.

Our children have already experienced more hardship than most children should ever have to endure. They have finally found stability, safety, and unconditional love in Tina.

They don’t just need a caregiver.

They need the woman who chose them, fought for them, and loves them as her own.

They need their mom.

Every donation, regardless of the amount, will go directly toward Tina’s medical care, treatment-related travel, lodging, diagnostic testing, medications, supportive therapies, and other necessary expenses not covered by insurance.

We understand that every donation represents someone’s hard-earned money, and we do not take that lightly. As our treatment plan is finalized, we are committed to keeping everyone updated on the path we choose and how your generosity is helping make that possible.

If you are unable to donate, sharing Tina’s story may help us reach someone who can.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read our story, for keeping Tina in your thoughts and prayers, and for giving our family hope during the most difficult chapter of our lives.

Thank you for believing in Tina.

Thank you for believing in our family.

Most of all, thank you for helping us give her every possible chance.

With love and gratitude,

Michele