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Help Kirsten Get Well

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We are a circle of friends coming together to support our dear friend Kirsten who faces significant medical expenses from several chronic health issues that she has dealt with for many years. She is in the midst of a long-term health crisis and needs our help.

About Kirsten
Kirsten’s life has been dedicated to helping others and helping our earth, driven by her deep commitment to environmental and social justice. She is an environmental educator, wilderness guide, and meditation teacher. Her community knows her to be a kind, wise and generous person who shows up for people and has a boundless love for the world. We’re most inspired by her work to help people cultivate personal resilience in the face of the climate and ecological crises that we face, possibly the most important work of our time. And yet, this career path is not a lucrative one. Kirsten works multiple jobs, none of which provides paid sick leave to cover time off when she is unwell or has medical appointments. And although Kirsten is passionate about each of her jobs, balancing them all makes it challenging to tend to her own healing.


Kirsten has struggled with health issues since living in India in 2001 when she contracted multiple infections that activated auto-immune conditions. In 2020 she also contracted COVID-19, which stimulated an acute relapse of long-time symptoms and initiated several new acute conditions that doctors so far have been unable to help her resolve. Her complicated medical conditions require her to see specialists and get treatments not covered by insurance. We know Kirsten to be a vibrant, strong person who perseveres. She is not one to complain or ask for help and doesn’t talk much about what she is going through, so very few people know the true extent of her health challenges.


How we can help
We want her to get well, a sentiment we're sure is shared by all those who know her and whose lives she has touched. To that end, we're inviting you to join us in supporting Kirsten in her path to healing. More than anything, Kirsten would love your blessings. She has a powerful and loving community and is filled with gratitude at the thought of all of your blessings heading her way. For those who also are able to contribute financially, please consider giving what you can to ease Kirsten’s burden. Funds raised will be used to cover medical treatments not covered by insurance as well as travel to specialists. In the foreseeable future, it appears that $40,000 will be needed for those purposes. Anything beyond that amount will allow Kirsten to work less, with the goal of reducing stress and allowing healing.

Let’s show up for Kirsten and help support her on her path to wellness! Thank you for considering this request, and please help share it with others.
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Donations 

  • Richard Sievers
    • $50
    • 10 mos
  • David Lorey
    • $500
    • 10 mos
  • Rachael Petersen
    • $100
    • 10 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 1 yr
  • Mary Orr
    • $50
    • 1 yr
Donate

Fundraising team (2)

Jenna Garmon
Organizer
Portland, OR
kirsten rudestam
Beneficiary
Susie Harrington
Team member

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