For the Love of Grace Wicks

March 23, 2023 Update: Grace and Judy Wicks offer their deep gratitude to Team Grace and the more than 1,000 people who helped raise over $250,000 and offered their service and love to give Grace the best possible chance at a full recovery. Grace is improving daily, and your support has made all the difference! Thank you!

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Grace Wicks and her mother, Judy Wicks, have spent their lives making the world a better place. Now they need us. In 2022, their worlds came crashing down when Grace contracted West Nile Virus, leaving her brain-damaged, partially paralyzed, unable to speak or lift a fork to eat, suffering constant pain, and reliant on round-the-clock care. After 100 days in the hospital, Grace needed further tests and treatment, pain management specialists, occupational and physical therapies, care equipment, and retrofitting of the home. The uncovered costs are expected to exceed $250,000 this year. In-home care, alone, is costing Judy more than $12,000 per month, out-of-pocket. They cannot and should not bear this alone. You can help.

With Judy's permission, friends and colleagues of Grace and Judy Wicks are conducting a campaign to raise $250,000 to help Grace recover and get her life back. You can help Grace stay in her home, get the medical care and rehabilitation she needs, and regain the strength to rejoin the communities and natural spaces she loves. Please donate generously today, and please share For the Love of Grace with your social media, news media, and professional and personal contacts.

Imagine if it were all taken away.

What if, after discovering your passions, manifesting your dreams as the successful owner of a socially responsible business, and inspiring others to do good in the world, your body failed you.

What if, after the joy of seeing your only daughter grow up, not only healthy and thriving, but also making the world a better place, you had to see her lose it all.

This is now the life of Grace Wicks, founder of Philadelphia's Graceful Gardens, and her mother, Judy Wicks, founder of White Dog Cafe, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, All Together Now PA, and so many other important social change organizations.

Judy has become Grace’s primary caretaker since West Nile Virus launched a catastrophic attack on her nerves, brain, and body. This left Grace brain-damaged, partially paralyzed, bedridden, unable to speak or hold things in her hands, and suffering constant pain.

Grace is a lover and a fighter, with a courageous heart, and a fierce drive to get back into the great outdoors, and resume her mission to grow ecological, edible gardens in urban communities. Even in the throes of unmanageable pain, muscle weakness, and mental confusion, she is known to use what little strength she has to encourage and uplift others around her. She is courageously pushing herself through physical and occupational therapies to relearn how to move, speak, write, and hold things in her hands.

This illness has taken nearly everything from Grace: her business, her joy in the great outdoors, her purpose, her body, her independence, and even her ability to drink, eat, bathe and use the bathroom on her own.

It shouldn’t take away the one place she feels safe – her home.

It shouldn’t take away all hope.

It shouldn't take away her will to live.

Both of these gifted, caring women have spent their lives making the world a better place and giving back to their communities. Now it’s time for us to give back.

We are calling upon our friends, colleagues, Grace's and Judy's fellow social change agents, and yes, even those friends we haven't yet met, to donate as generously as you can.

If you are part of the many nonprofit and socially responsible business networks founded, co-founded, and built by Judy Wicks, please help us get the word out and raise funds. Reach out at [email redacted].

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