The Community Spoke
And We Listened
It’s not uncommon for African Americans to be mistrusting of the health care system and skeptical of the organ and tissue donation process. We launched Let’s Talk to reach out to those communities, where people are more likely to need an organ transplant, yet less likely to sign up as donors. We talked with people in the community and encouraged them to share their stories, to break down misconceptions, to address myths and to encourage their neighbors, families and friends to sign up as donors.
In the U.S., there are more than 100,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ, and about 60 percent of them represent racial and ethnic minorities. In Michigan, it’s about 40 percent of the patients on the waiting list. This is a discussion that can save lives.
Community Conversations
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- Let's Talk - African American
Transplant Throwback: Chef Oliver Hale
Name: Chef Oliver Hale (Chef O) Age: 71 Home: Kentwood, Michigan Transplant: Kidney, twice Why did you need a transplant, and when did it happen? I received my first kidney transplant in 1985 after…
Small steps to a big milestone
As an Army sergeant and medic, Lisa Haney was trained to save lives. Then her own life was saved during the military discharge process in 2017. After serving nine years, she submitted her paperwork and…
Mallaki receives the gift of life and a new family
Ben and Karen Hayes knew no one could care for the foster boy like they could A 7-year-old boy in the foster care system was recovering from a life-saving liver transplant when two strangers walked…
Staff Spotlight: As a donation educator, Taneisha Carswell knows when to talk and when to listen
Gift of Life staffer’s kidney transplant gives her personal perspective If Taneisha Carswell doesn’t convince someone to be an organ donor right away, no worries. She’ll keep trying. One skeptical man visited her information table…
A brotherhood is born out of death, life and gratitude
John Edmond barely gave it a thought as a woman from Gift of Life Michigan entered his young daughter’s room in the pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He knew his 7-year-old would not survive her accidental…
Tissue Donation for Breast Cancer Survior
“I can look in the mirror every day and not be reminded of the hell I went through.” Curpri Sanders experienced the happiest time in her life and the saddest in the same month. As…
Volunteer Spotlight: Gift of lungs motivates Debora Dearring to share her own spirit and compassion
Debora Dearring lived at Henry Ford Hospital for nine months, seven of them waiting and praying for a double lung transplant that would save her life. The days and months were long and she was…
Grueling time on dialysis ends with ultimate gift
Organ donor saves star high school athlete who then literally pays it forward to help donation programs A young donor saved two things most important to Tristan Johnson: His life and his ability to play…
Volunteer Spotlight: Liver transplant recipient dreams big
Volunteer wants to help transplant families with House of Hope for extended stays in Detroit Aarolyn McCullough was inspired by one simple question: “Where can I buy groceries?” Aarolyn was volunteering to spend time with…
Heart recipient adopts second mission: Advocating for organ, tissue donation
“I always tell people to sign up,” Grosse Pointe Woods woman says Vickie Figueroa makes her living ensuring that people of Black, Hispanic and Native American heritage are included in the Catholic Church and cared…
Let’s Have this Conversation Together
We invite you to join us in a virtual experience to elevate the conversation about the benefits of these lifesaving gifts. Talk to your families. Your friends. Your social networks.
We need each other.
A single organ donor can save as many as eight lives. A tissue donor can help heal up to 75 others.
