Support Sabrina Ward Harrison's Battle with Parkinson's

Team fundraiser

Sarah Roos-Essl and 2 others are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Sabrina Ward Harrison.

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Sabrina Ward Harrison began sharing her life story 25 years ago with her first published journal, Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself. She went on to bravely publish four more coming-of-age journals, a collection that many consider to be a “voice of a generation.” Over the past two decades, Sabrina’s books, creativity courses, in-person workshops, and speaking engagements have inspired individuals around the world to embrace their creativity & bravely share their own unique stories.

Now Sabrina is faced with a life-altering diagnosis.

Sabrina is battling Early-Onset Parkinson’s Disease, a rare form of the disease that strikes young people and worsens significantly over time. As the disease progresses, she often finds herself in debilitating pain or with tremors that make most daily activities extremely challenging.

In addition to the life-altering physical limitations of Parkinson’s, the non-motor symptoms include depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment, which also present huge hurdles to overcome in combination with the more visible motor symptoms.

Early Onset Parkinson's strikes decades ahead of normal Parkinson's when people are in middle-age and at the peak of their career and income-making potential. At only age 48, Sabrina struggles to continue the same work that has supported her for the last few decades. Her artistic livelihood - the foundation she built on live teaching, creating books and making her beloved art - is in jeopardy as her symptoms increase.

After years of managing these difficult symptoms alone, Sabrina now needs comprehensive care and support in nearly every area of her life. This GoFundMe has been created by Sabrina’s loving community of friends, family, students and readers to support her Parkinson's journey moving forward.

Our fundraising goal is to raise $500,000 to cover the comprehensive medical and in-home adaptive care that she will need over the next five years.

These funds will help support Sabrina now in hope that a better cure/treatment will be discovered for EOPD patients in the near future. Your contribution will help pay for things like:

Ongoing expenses for the daily prescriptions required to combat symptoms
Trial medication & procedures (ex: stem cell transplant) - which prove to be extremely effective but are often cost prohibitive
Physical therapy & massage for muscle rehabilitation & tremors
Psychotherapy & cognitive therapy
In-home support (ex: cleaning, meal prep, etc)
Adaptive technology that can support Sabrina in work and daily life

Thank you for considering this opportunity to support Sabrina's Parkinson's journey. Your kindness and generosity will have a profound impact on her life and we are incredibly grateful for your support. Every contribution, great or small, is deeply appreciated. Even if you don't have the means to donate, sharing this GoFundMe page with friends and family is hugely helpful!

To learn more about Early Onset Parkinson’s, visit The Michael J Fox Foundation .

Please join our fundraising efforts by sharing this GoFundMe page with your community. Use the yellow "Share" button on this page or copy-and-paste this text and link:

Friends and family, my friend/teacher/favorite artist/author needs our help. Please consider donating here to support her battle with Parkinson’s.