My name is John Dawkins. My wife and I relocated from Fort Lauderdale Florida to the Twin Cities to care for my elderly mother-in-law after she survived a heart attack and had no family support. Shortly after moving, my wife was laid off from her job as a territory manager due to corporate downsizing, so she is now in school; full-time finishing her bachelor's degree.

I work full-time as a Sales Representative at Xfinity in Edina, but three weeks ago I became very ill and went to the ER. What I thought was food poisoning turned out to be genetic systolic heart failure. I'm only 42, very active , and has no major warning signs, yet my heart is currently pumping at only 15% instead of the normal 60%. On top of that, my wife recently had a surgery to remove a tumor. 

This has been an extremely challenging season for our family, and we are in need of support as I work toward recovery.