Today, Ivelisse welcomes Abby Zachritz (“Advocacy Abby”), a mother of five and passionate advocate for families facing disability, cancer, and complex medical needs. 

Abby co-founded the Connect Platform and serves as Director of Family Advocacy at SupportNow, where she helps families access critical resources like grants, therapy programs, adaptive equipment, and financial assistance. 

She shares her top health tip—prioritizing sleep, including its important role in processing trauma—and explains how she supports overwhelmed families by first hearing their story and helping them build a strong community of support early on. Abby also introduces SupportNow, an all-in-one platform that simplifies updates, fundraising with minimal fees, and practical help requests like meals, prayer, and other forms of support. She discusses Connect, a free and continually updated database of more than 3,400 grants that can be searched by location, diagnosis, and need, and shares practical strategies such as compounding grants, pursuing non-income-based assistance like gas cards, and communicating needs in ways that invite support without directly asking for money.

Learn more about Advocacy Abby on her Instagram Page

Suggested Resources:

• SupportNow - One Platform, Any Support
• Connect - Grants and Foundations
• Believe Big Patient Advocates

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