Statements

Mission

To assist with the non-medical needs of critically or chronically ill children & their families throughout the Mid-South.

Background

The Forrest Spence Fund begins with the story of Brittany and David Spence's first child, Robert Forrest Spence, born on September 10, 2007. Shortly after birth Forrest developed complications and was transported to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where he fought valiantly for life for 55 days before his illness overtook him. While in the PICU, Forrest and his family underwent an indescribable journey of highs and lows. In light of this experience, the Forrest Spence Fund was founded in 2007 to assist with the non-medical needs of critically or chronically ill children and their families throughout the Mid-South. The Spences view this as a way for them and for others to support families dealing with similar difficult situations and to give back to regional children's hospitals like Le Bonheur, where the amazing medical staff fought for Forrest and continues to fight for thousands of other children each year. In 2009, the organization received its charter from the state of Tennessee and became a federally recognized 501(c)3 not-for-profit. Since that time, the Forrest Spence Fund has continued to grow and expand its work across the Mid-South, touching the lives of many. The work of the Fund can be divided into 4 categories. (1) Individual and Family needs, meeting specific needs of children and their families as they battle illness and its impact on their lives, (2) Institutional Support, helping organizations like Le Bonheur provide family-centered care, (3) Counseling, connecting families with counselors who can help them through the difficulty of facing critical or chronic illness, especially those that have lost children, (4) Financial Grants, awarding families up to $5,000 in need-based grants. Each year thousands of families across the region are confronted with the challenge of childhood illness, leaving a profound impact. With your help and the help of others, our organization will continue to come alongside these families in a time of need and often desperation, and support them, love them, and guide them through their journey.

Impact

The Forrest Spence Fund is a mission based on compassion that walks side by side with families during the illness of a child. Throughout our tenure, the Forrest Spence Fund has provided multiple forms of physical, financial and emotional support to more than 98,422 families impacted by childhood illnesses. The need for our services are so great, that we have expanded across the state and now serve families and institutions in Nashville and Chattanooga in addition to those in Memphis that we have supported since 2007. We offer unique services to ensure that each family receives support based on their individualized needs.

Needs

The Forrest Spence Fund serves each family in a unique way often encompassing several of our services. As a growing organization, fundraising occupies a top priority. With our expansion into Nashville and Chattanooga, fundraising is vital to our ability to provide full services to each of these new cities, while maintaining the high demand for services in Memphis.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Human Services  - Family Services
Secondary Category:	-
Tertiary Category:	-

Areas Served

TN - Davidson