Tia Aiono recently experienced a financial hardship and reached out for help from Intermountain’s Caregiver Assistance Fund. Tia, a patient services rep at the Avenues Specialty Clinic with Gastroenterology, wanted to share her story in the hopes that it will encourage others to give. The fund has been set up to help Intermountain caregivers who’d been financially impacted by COVID-19.
Tia Aiono
HERE’S TIA’S STORY
I was seven months into a difficult pregnancy with health complications when I learned my partner had been laid off due to COVID-19. We were also faced with loss of income from a supplemental business, which disappeared when the lockdown began. This cut our household income down to a third of what we normally operate off of.
It was a tough situation. We’d been on a really good trajectory and it just got derailed. I was also struggling with the challenges of pregnancy while being the only source of income for our family. When I saw an email about the Caregiver Assistance Fund, I decided to reach out.
I was connected with Emily Stirling, an HR manager of caregiver social well-being, who reviewed my case and helped move it forward. Emily was a huge help and really took a stand for us. Her objective wasn’t just to help the current need of paying rent, but to also set me up with tools for continued help if needed. She was great in making sure we had additional resources and championing the process. It meant a great deal to my family.
Debbie Hardy, community giving manager at Intermountain, says, “The Caregiver Assistance Fund continues to support caregivers who’ve been financially impacted by COVID-19. We encourage people to keep giving to our caregivers who have financial needs during this unprecedented time.”
In addition to the Caregiver Assistance Fund, I was given multiple resources that would help stabilize our finances and get our family back on track. This included the Intermountain Financial Assistance Program for help with medical bills and the Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) program for assistance with utilities.
We’re choosing to be optimistic and hopeful moving forward for the sake of our health and the sake of our baby (due June 30), but it’s hard with all the unknowns. I know many others are going through similar situations.
I really appreciate all the assistance from Intermountain during this time. I hope others will consider donating to the fund.