For many, few things cause more stress than the fear of missing a paycheck. Add the stress of a serious medical illness and you can understand the challenge facing many in our community on a daily basis.
“I couldn’t imagine how they would make it if they couldn’t work for even one day, let alone months due to a serious medical illness,” Frankel recalls.
As soon as she recovered, Frankel established the Bloom Again Foundation to provide rapid relief to economically vulnerable working women when they need it most due to personal or family medical emergencies. Many women who are very ill and in need do not even have the luxury of time to fill out a lot of paper work and wait weeks for a response.
Bloom Again provides whatever is needed, from rental payments to money for food, so that the woman can focus on healing, not losing her home. Then, upon recovery, they can return to work.
“These women work hard and are proud. They don’t want a hand out. We give them a hand-up and help them get on their feet,” Frankel has said.
The Bloom Again Foundation has zeroed in on a profound need and created a targeted and beautifully simple solution that truly helps. And they do it with an all-volunteer staff that relies on a network of nonprofit community agencies to refer women who, despite working full time, were still living in poverty prior to falling ill. Thanks to their low overhead costs, over 90 percent of donations go directly to women in need.
For all of these reasons, the Tariq Farid Foundation was honored to be able to add its support to this worthy cause recently. Our commitment to the organization comes on the heels of Bloom Again’s 5th Annual Lunafest, which will be held on December 7 from 11 am to 5 pm at The Autry Museum, 4700 Western Heritage Way, in Los Angeles.
The Tariq Farid Foundation is the presenting sponsor of this event, which serves as a celebration of all women but also as a fundraiser for Bloom Again and features short films by, for and about women. If you are in the area, I encourage you to join the celebration to find out more about the great work this organization is doing. For more information on Luna Fest or to purchase tickets, please click here.
MEET SOME OF THE HAPPY FACES FROM BLOOM AGAIN