www.LTHousingSupport.ca - A lung transplant community-led fundraising initiative aimed at closing the gap in housing and living cost support for BC lung transplant patients and caregivers in need.
Dennis Josey, Bob Mellor and Darcy Murdoch (photo left to right) – each a lung transplant recipient – are familiar with the hardships that accompany a lung transplant journey. From their first-hand experience, one of the biggest hardships is the actual affordability of the journey itself. 
For patients who reside outside Vancouver, a lung transplant eligibility requirement is relocating near VGH for a minimum of three months for post-transplant care. Dennis said, "The cost of maintaining two homes – a patient’s permanent residence outside Vancouver and a temporary home near VGH – adds up fast. For some, it’s an impossibility.”
In summer 2020, to help ensure patients and caregivers in financial crisis get the help they need, Dennis, Bob and Darcy founded Lung Transplant Housing Support (LT Housing Support). One hundred per cent of funds raised for LT Housing Support are re-distributed directly to patients and caregivers in need.
"Remember, by the time a patient gets the call that donor lungs are available and surgery is imminent, their health is failing, they can no longer work and they’re drawing on financial reserves. Patients are understandably at a crisis point," said Bob. "The mission of LT Housing Support is to relieve what pressures we can. Addressing the unaffordability of temporary housing and living costs made sense."
"When we first imagined the LT Housing Support fund just over a year ago, we reached out to BC's lung transplant community. Thanks to the generosity of our first 100 Founding Contributors - many of whom are lung transplant candidates, recipients and caregivers - we have already provided financial help to a half-dozen patients and caregivers in need," said Darcy. "Going forward our plan is to expand our fundraising reach to ensure a lasting legacy of lung transplant housing support."
Find out more and make a donation on their dedicated website: www.LTHousingSupport.ca
A key partner, BC Lung contributes annual funding as well as providing LT Housing Support with necessary organizational accounting, administrative and communications support free-of-charge. Our partnership enables LT Housing Support to re-distribute 100% of all donations directly to patients and caregivers in need.