Supporting Women with Blindness

This International Women's Day I am sharing something weighing on my heart and asking Juneau to show Robin (Fiscus) Espinoza how much we love and support her in a new journey involving sudden blindness from an accident. I hope that you can donate a little something towards the rest of her lifetime navigating life with no vision.

This journey will luckily include a guide dog in the future which we celebrated during her last visit. Unfortunately, the future will include disability status, continued side effects, ongoing medical treatment/surgeries, co-dependence on others such as driving and help as well as psychological coping and continued adaptation to thrive. The medical accumulated costs for one bad day can never be erased and are an enormous obstacle in the path to moving forward with hope day after day. Robin is my classmate from 1995 JDHS graduating class. Over the time I grew up with Robin, I always admired her bravery, her trust in people, her easy-going nature, her wisdom about the world, her spontaneity, and her down-to-earth and personable personality. And she is FULL of life and more than most she loves to have fun. She is a perpetual giggler and had always lived in the present enjoying every little morsel of life.

Please consider any donation, whatever you can, to show her we believe she can overcome this great trauma and there is a brighter future. A few years ago, Robin was having an average, predictable day until she tended to her house plant and later changed her contact lenses. What she didn't know was that the barrier in her eye that protects against "germs" was scratched from wearing too-small of contacts that week before sizing up at her next appointment. The events that took place next were excruciating, horrific, shocking, and traumatic. We are talking about a level of pain no one can imagine for 8 months straight. After several cornea transplants, she is now relieved of some of the mind-blowing pain as a fungus ate away her cornea and caused permanent blindness. Before this, Robin was thriving in her bubbly, fun, positive, and successful way as an audiologist in Washington. Now she has abruptly lost her job, her hobbies, her driver's license, and general independence and must, with our community's support, look for the good in each new day to navigate this new life.

The first thing to do is pay off all of the medical bills and more to come. Our goal is to reach AS MUCH AS $50,000 with your shares and word-of-mouth for this fundraiser. The second thing to do is to make baby step updates to her house/lifestyle so that she can gain some independence while living blind. The third thing to do is help her launch a new career however she sees fit, with a little start-up funds to get after it. Get ready friends, you are about to experience our first blind chef Youtuber and she's GOOD. You wouldn't believe the smart technology and hacks out there for vision-impaired to cook delicious meals independently with practice and new gadgets. This is where we come in. Let's uplift Robin and help show support for this journey.

The good news? She is resilient and a dreamer and she grew up in a town where people support each other. This Juneau girl remains the smart, talented, artistic, friendly, world-traveler that we knew and admired. She sets a high bar for how to endure great tragedy and carry on with hope. Let's get behind her and grow her strength together starting today and always. We love you, Robin!