Support Erin and Sloan

I am setting up this GoFundMe to support and uplift my dear friend Erin Staley. On June 16, 2023, at the age of 46 her entire world was turned upside down. This otherwise healthy and happy single mom had a double sided stroke, leaving her permanently deaf and affecting her language and cognition skills.

Erin is one of the bravest and fiercest people I know. She always knew she wanted to be a mother and ten years ago she made the decision to have a child on her own and face the challenges that came with it. Researching all the options she made the journey to motherhood thanks to a fertility program and she was blessed with her beautiful son Sloan in 2015. With his beaming smile and bright blue eyes, Sloan has been the love of her life.

Prior to her stroke, Erin had a successful career as an Executive Assistant with placements in both Baltimore and San Diego. She excelled at her job, had a wonderful network of friends and colleagues and Sloan was thriving.

On June 14, 2023, Erin knew something was off. She took herself to the ER with Sloan because of extreme and unusual stomach pain. It turns out she was in previously undiagnosed Afib, and that was the last thing she remembers until she woke up on June 16th and her entire world had changed. She was alive, but everything else was perilously uncertain.

She was hospitalized for 7 days and was released into an entirely different and silent world. After months of therapy and follow up she has regained a great deal of her language skills but the resulting brain injury from the stroke has forever changed her ability to work and provide for her son.

Just before the stroke she had actually been laid off from her job and was on short-term Cobra healthcare which will be expiring. Now on long term disability, Erin is forging a new path, with both she and Sloan learning sign language and adopting various assistive technologies to allow Erin to communicate with others to ensure their world doesn’t close in on them.

This GoFundMe is designed to support Erin and Sloan through this difficult chapter as they navigate the programs and resources out there to support Erin as she attempts to create a new normal for them. Funds will be used to help cover healthcare and therapy services costs, adaptive technology and day to day expenses as needed. Your support is so appreciated to keep this awesome mom and son team on a positive, forward and independent path!