Our Stories

Jennifer Wright, an RN based in Georgia, loved her home nestled in the middle of a patch of trees. But when an EF2 tornado ripped through their region on Easter Sunday 2020, those same trees toppled onto the house, creating complete devastation.

“Two of my children and I were home taking cover in the downstairs bathroom. My husband was at work. Thankfully, none of us were hurt during this traumatic event,” she said. The tornado, which had wind speeds of well over 100 mph, caused trees to hit the house so hard the concrete in the garage cracked. The porches attached to the house were destroyed.

“The police had to come break windows to get us out,” she said. “As you can see from the photo, this was catastrophic to our lives.”

Jennifer’s director and manager encouraged her to apply to the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund to help her family get back on its feet, but she initially resisted. Encouragement from her colleagues changed her mind. She felt a huge wave of relief when her Hope Fund request was approved.

Her colleagues, through their donations to the Hope Fund, helped Jennifer’s family get needed repairs while alleviating some of the financial worry. “I can’t say thank you enough,” she said. “I feel very grateful that even though ours seemed like a small incident compared to some other peoples’ stories, colleagues wanted to give and to help those impacted, and that means a lot to me.”

Her family is back in their home now, and life is getting back to normal. She credits the Hope Fund for helping make that happen. She is now a dedicated donor and encourages all of her colleagues who can give to do so.

“It is good to give, even if it is just a little. The Hope Fund is an amazing program and it’s nice to know we take care of each other,” she said.