John is a pleasant gentleman with a good sense of humor. Originally from Louisiana, he still has his Cajun accent. John has not let his kidney disease, previous strokes, or being legally blind stop him from having a good life. He loves to fish and eat; he especially loves a good fish-fry or crawfish boil! He enjoys spending time with friends.
Although John tries to find the positives in life, he also has to deal with the many struggles. John has a very limited income; the cost of transportation alone made him consider withdrawing from dialysis, thus giving up all hope of survival.
Understanding how dangerous John’s situation was, his social worker rushed to apply for the Dialysis Transportation Program offered by The East Tennessee Kidney Foundation. The East Tennessee Kidney Foundation quickly approved John, and the program is now providing John with a financial stipend to cover his transportation expenses each month.
Upon hearing the news of receiving financial assistance from the East Tennessee Kidney Foundation, John almost broke into tears! This program has relieved much of his financial burden, and has been a lifesaver for John. Without this program, John would have stopped dialysis- and possibly lost his life. Now he has renewed hope and courage to live life to its fullest.
United Way of Greater Knoxville is extremely proud to support an agency that offers life-saving programs to the people of Knoxville in need. Without the East Tennessee Kidney Foundation, many others in our community just like John would struggle every day to access the life-saving dialysis treatment that they need. United Way helps fund this program, and you can too. Change doesn’t happen alone. To live better, we must LIVE UNITED.
