The life and art of Kimberly Green

Last week, I wrote a well-received blog on Kimberly Green, a woman who's suffering from stage 4 breast cancer, but nonetheless has sacrificed so much of herself to give to so many others.

I was particularly impressed with her organization, the Green Family Foundation, and the work it's done in Haiti with the Clinton Global Initiative and President Clinton. I saw the pictures of the kind of work her foundation performs, and I saw the close relationship the organization has had with Clinton in bringing health care to a health-ravaged nation.

What bugged me was when I did a Google search of Kimberly's work, and I did an additional search of her foundation's association with Clinton. I came up with next-to-nothing.

This blog entry is an attempt to bring it all together. Below are clips of a slideshow I put together that includes clips of the foundation's work in Haiti. The show is accompanied by a voice-over narration of my blog post from last week, spoken by me.

This is an all-attempt to get the Internet to recognize the good work that these people do. This is also an attempt to show that the work the foundation does isn't done in a vacuum. It's attracting help from the most powerful people in the world.

It's time to recognize the Green Foundation for what it is and what it has done.





NOTE: The Green Family Foundation has a Facebook page that can be found here.

Give her health insurance, or give her...

When it comes to health care, Kimberly Green doesn't get it.

Oh, don't think for a minute she doesn't know anything about sickness. She's had breast cancer for more than three years. She's had highs and lows, but she knows that wellness can only last for so long when you have stage 4 cancer.

Green - like much of the country - could be one health crisis away from financial ruin. What she doesn't get is why so many people just don't understand.

Her treatment costs $6,000 a month. Without it, she said, "I would die."

Green shakes her head when thinks about it. Tens of millions of people without health insurance, all lacking what she's got that's kept her alive.

Now, as the nation debates how to finally deliver health care to those who need it, Green isn't afraid to use herself - and her words - as a vehicle to convey a message that, she believes, much of the country still has a hard time understanding.

Give them treatment, she says. Or they will die.

"There are a lot of things that can help people, but these things should be available to everybody," Green said.

Green's family has understood this for a while. They have a foundation that's dedicated to improving global health and elevating socioeconomic conditions in impoverished countries.

The Green Family Foundation, a private, non-profit organization, has worked with the Clinton Global Initiative in benefiting Haiti. Just recently, the foundation committed more than $280,000 to improving villages and restoring the country's musical heritage. The foundation also provided a $10 million gift to Florida International University - including a state match - to fund a community medicine program.

Green, speaking at the foundation's Healthcare Reform Blogger Roundtable on Thursday, said her family's work has emboldened her to be aware of her environment, and to not take life for granted. She has made a number of trips to Haiti, appearing with former President Clinton in photos and seeing the worst that poverty can bring.

There, she once saw a woman whose breast was very enlarged. She knew it was breast cancer, but she asked one of the doctors: What will happen to that woman?

"It will be cut off," she said, recalling what the doctor told her. "She will die."

This is a life without health insurance, she realized. And it was the kind of image that inspired her - after her mother was diagnosed - to get a mammogram. Her cancer was diagnosed soon after, and she underwent treatments. She sorted through options until she found what worked best for her.

But when she thinks of the health care in the United States, she thinks of that woman. Costs are rising. Drugs are becoming less accessible. She's worried about how bad things can get. She wonders if we're not so far away from facing the same consequences.

In the United States, at least, many people like Green have choice. But many do not. How long?

"I don't know why it has to be this way," she said.

NOTE: The Green Family Foundation has a Facebook page that can be found here.

Suffering from cancer, but still a force

Sen. Edward Kennedy has drawn much criticism in his long life, but few debate his skills as a senator - particularly his ability to bring opposing sides together to pass critical legislation.

And no one, it appears, argues with commitment toward making a difference in legislation - even as he suffers from brain cancer - that would help people with mental illness.

Debra L. Wentz, head of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies, Inc. noted that Kennedy has continued his lifelong commitment to protecting the health and well-being of seniors and disabled citizens by rallying to block Medicare fee cuts and to push for a mental health parity bill.

Congress recently passed the latter bill, which awaits President Bush’s signature by the end of this month.

Wentz said these efforts are a fitting testament to the impact Kennedy has had on health and mental health care throughout his life.

"We will be hard pressed to find another advocate who is equally skilled at garnering bipartisan support for vulnerable populations, as well as the elderly,” she said.