Support Erin's Recovery and Return to a Thriving Life!

Hi friends!

If this fundraiser has been shared with you, it's because you are or were connected to Erin Smith at some point in your life! To know Erin is to love her and her sense of wonder, whimsy, inspiration, and awe. We are reaching out to you because she is needing some support right now and we want to see her get back to her thriving healthy self!

In January, Erin hit her head and suffered a severe concussion. After a few days of resting and feeling hazy, she returned to work and normal life. A few weeks later, she was completely debilitated by significant pain, nausea, extreme light and sound sensitivity, brain fog, and a general inability to function normally. She immediately had to stop working and her doctor put her on full brain rest, which meant she couldn't leave the house and couldn't use technology of any kind except to communicate with doctors and a very small group of people to give an update about her wellbeing.

After some extended brain rest, and under the guidance of her doctors, she slowly started to re-enter normal life again in a very scaled-back way. She went back to work for four hours a week. She made a plan to see a friend once a week for an hour. It was feeling manageable and hopeful until it wasn't. Erin "relapsed" and backtracked in her recovery. She had to return to periods of brain rest three more times after the initial concussion.

Erin has a history of concussions, so the compounding effect of this one has been quite devastating and life-altering. Erin has been off work for months, will be losing her health insurance in September, and due to her inability to pay bills sustainably or live independently, will be moving out of her beloved studio space. In the spring, she applied for support under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows for 12 weeks of paid leave for medical reasons. However, due to the fact that her income the prior year was so low due to her being in graduate school and doing an unpaid internship, the financial support she received from FMLA was next to nothing (because it takes into account your past year’s total income).

If you know Erin, you know that she is headstrong, determined, immensely caring, and an incredibly hard worker. She has been living and dealing with this injury for months on her own, receiving a bit of help here and there, but has come to a point where she realizes she needs a lot more support. That's why we are reaching out to you!

The money donated to this fundraiser will go to paying off months of medical bills (routine check ups, blood work, a costly brain scan, and more appointments and assessments in the future), making car payments, buying groceries, and other basic living expenses. By donating to this GoFundMe (or sending money directly to Erin through Venmo at @Erin-Smith-724), you can support her at this difficult point in her journey. Any bit will help right now!

We ask that you refrain from reaching out to Erin via call and text as she is still trying to stay off her phone as much as possible. She has, however, been LOVING receiving notes and cards and art in the mail so if you feel so inclined, that would be a great way to reach out to her in the immediate future. If you don’t have her mailing address, you can reach out to me and I can share it with you! Thanks so much for loving and supporting Erin in whatever way feels best and most feasible for you. We love her and can’t wait to see her be her best self again.