She built her identity around nurturing others — children, elderly clients, individuals with special needs, and even animals. Whoever needed her, she showed up.

As her health declined, that identity didn’t disappear. But it did change.

“I’m a mom to two adult sons and a grandmother to a five-year-old grandson,” Alicia explained. “Caregiving has always been central to who I am — not just as a parent, but as a person. Before my health declined, my life revolved around caring for others. Supporting others, meeting them where they were, and helping them feel safe and understood gave my life structure, meaning, and purpose.”

Alicia lives in Lake Tahoe. It’s beautiful — the kind of place people vacation to reset. But these days, her energy is limited and unpredictable. Life requires pacing.

Plants fill the house. Clover grows outside to invite wildlife. Bears, coyotes, raccoons, deer, rabbits, quail, and even bobcats wander through. She watches them on outdoor cameras. And every evening, from her couch, she watches the sun move across Lake Tahoe.

“Tahoe also offers the most incredible sunsets, and I’m fortunate that from my couch I can watch the light move across the sky and over the lake each evening — something I look forward to every day. On good days, I paint or work on creative projects. On harder days, simply being present in this space is enough.”

Alicia’s health journey has been complex and rare. After years of partial explanations, genetic testing finally gave her a name for it: Gould syndrome, a rare condition that impacts the body’s connective tissue. Her specific genetic deletion is so rare that it’s only been seen in one other person worldwide.

As her condition progressed, simple tasks became physically taxing. Stairs — once not a problem at all — became one of her biggest barriers.

“One of the hardest adjustments has been losing independence, especially when it comes to mobility inside my own home,” she said. “Stairs gradually became overwhelming, first because of breathing difficulties, and later because of muscle weakness and fatigue. Even on good days, stairs feel like climbing a mountain.”

To conserve energy and reduce risk, she began limiting herself to one trip upstairs per day.

“I gather everything I’ll need — laundry, clothes, supplies — and stage it at the bottom of the stairs so I can minimize trips. Once I’m upstairs, I try to accomplish everything at once, because each trip is physically taxing and carries risk,” she told us.

Imagine structuring your entire day around a single climb.

That’s why donors like you stepped in.

Through a $4,696 grant from Chive Charities, Alicia received a stairlift for her home. The equipment itself is practical, but the impact is deeply personal.

For most of her life, Alicia has been the one helping other people climb. Now, because of you, she doesn’t have to exhaust herself doing it alone.

This stairlift means she doesn’t have to stage her entire day around one trip. It means laundry doesn’t feel like a strategic operation. It means she can go up for five minutes and come back down without calculating the physical cost.

It means she isn’t stuck.

And when your world has already gotten smaller because of illness, that matters.

As Alicia said: “Your support isn’t just providing equipment — it’s restoring safety, dignity, and access. It allows me to remain present in my home and my life, and it reminds me that even in the hardest seasons, community and kindness still exist.”

Community + kindness = Chive Nation. It’s just what you do.

You step in quietly. You fund what insurance won’t. You help someone stay in their home safely. You give a caregiver back a piece of her independence.

Not in some grand, dramatic way — but in the everyday, practical moments that add up.

Since the very beginning, this community has been firm believers in helping those around you. Every year, you show up in the most legendary ways—paying tabs, tipping strangers, surprising veterans, backing first responders, and standing shoulder to shoulder with families facing rare and life-altering medical challenges.

#RAKIT2026 kicks off on Saturday, February 14 and runs through February 20. RAK-IT however you can and be sure to share it with us with a comment on Give Butter and on social media by tagging us and adding #RAKIT2026.

And if you want to take it one small step further, you can RAK-IT with a donation.

No big asks. No guilt. Just a few bucks helping veterans, first responders, and rare medical warriors. Because we’ve seen what happens when this community shows up together—and it’s pretty damn incredible. DONATE HERE.