Support Tiara's Heart and Health Journey

Hi, my name is Tiara Johnson and I’m a heart transplant survivor and founder of a grassroots initiative dedicated to educating, empowering, and advocating for underserved and underrepresented patients in our healthcare system.

This work is deeply personal to me because I’ve lived through the very challenges I help others navigate. Diagnosed with end-stage heart failure at 25, I’ve spent the last several years surviving, fighting, and learning how to advocate not just for myself, but for a whole community of patients like me. After receiving the gift of life through a heart transplant, I vowed to spend my second chance pouring back into others.

But here’s the truth I don’t talk about: while I find so much joy in giving back, I’m now at a place where I need help too. I have to loose my pride and ask for help.

Medical bills from over the years have continued to pile up. I’m still paying for life-sustaining medications, constant follow-up care, and copays. I even had to step away from the RN program I was pursuing because I couldn’t afford to keep going. I’ve tried to push through silently, but the weight of it all is beginning to affect my health, and I know I can’t carry it alone anymore—not if I want to continue helping others and take care of my own heart. Not to mention my neighborhood has been hit twice in the last month with tornadoes and a flood literally as I type this on April 4th. My basement has flooded twice and we also sustained damage as well.

My goal is to raise $10,000 to cover:

• Outstanding medical bills and co-pays

• Medication costs related to my transplant

• Basic living expenses so I can breathe financially

• Funding to help keep community outreach going strong

This isn’t easy for me to ask, but I truly believe in the power of community. If I’ve ever helped you or inspired you in any way, or if you believe in the mission of making healthcare more accessible and just for all patients—especially those often forgotten—please consider donating or sharing this campaign.

From the bottom of my new heart, thank you for supporting not just my life, but the lives I hope to continue reaching through this work.

With love and gratitude,

Tiara Johnson