How Lincoln Memorial Foundation’s Emergency Fund Helped a Colleague In Need

Earlier this year, 6-year-old James Knox noticed something was wrong when he saw flames reflecting on a neighbor’s window across the street. Sure enough, the Knox family’s attached garage was on fire after their labrador had dragged a pizza box in from the firepit, which then ignited a door frame.

Amy Knox, a physical therapist and supervisor at Lincoln Memorial Hospital (LMH), evacuated with her husband Ryan and their four children, ranging in age from an infant to a 12-year-old, into the winter night with little more than the clothes on their backs.

“That night we basically just left,” Amy said. “We had to buy emergency clothing, outfits for the kids and blankets just to get through the short term.”

The fire inspector told them they had been minutes from losing the garage, and only a few more minutes from losing their home entirely. What followed included weeks in an out-of-town rental property, an insurance nightmare, extensive smoke damage throughout the house, ripped-out carpeting and the slow, exhausting work of rebuilding.

Their youngest turned 1 while the family was displaced. They held his birthday party away from home, scrambling to find baby gates and basic necessities in an unfamiliar space.

“It was so stressful being in a rental, not even in our hometown,” Amy said.

When she returned to work the following week, Amy’s rehabilitation manager, Tim Heitzig, pulled her into his office. He had started the process for Colleague Emergency Fund paperwork before Amy even knew the resource existed.

“I hadn’t realized this was a thing, or that I would even qualify,” Amy said. ” He had everything ready. I just filled out a few things and signed documents. The timing was perfect.”

The fund provided $1,000 toward Amy’s insurance deductible, paid directly to a restoration company handling the cleanup. For a family juggling emergency expenses on top of the unpredictability of an insurance claim, it was a timely assistance.

“This was such a tangible way to help,” Amy said.

Lincoln Memorial Foundation director Sarah Helm describes the Colleague Emergency Fund as one of the organization’s most personal offerings and one she wishes more colleagues knew about. The fund is designed to support employees facing unexpected hardships like fire, flood, loss of income, utility bills or other sudden financial burdens.

Applications are reviewed by an anonymous committee, and colleagues can request help confidentially, even without their immediate supervisor knowing.

“Asking for help is hard,” Helm acknowledged. “The fund is meant to provide a safe and confidential way to do that, so that colleagues feel cared for and can continue caring for our community.”

The fund, built almost entirely from contributions made by Memorial Health colleagues themselves, supplements unrestricted gifts from outside donors. It’s a point of pride for Helm to share with potential outside donors what percentage of the organization’s own employees give to the foundation.

“These people are walking the walk,” she said of colleague giving. “It amplifies and inspires giving outside these walls in ways that are hard to put into words.”

For Amy Knox, the experience transformed what the hospital foundation means to her. She had always been a donor, appreciative of the foundation’s support of her department’s equipment, continuing education courses and professional certifications. But during this year’s Colleague Giving campaign, she directed her gift to the Emergency Fund.

“I feel strongly about giving back,” she said. “Contributing to the foundation is my way of paying it forward. I want to help ensure that other colleagues facing unexpected hardships have access to the same kind of support I had.”

The Knox family is slowly finding their footing again. The house is being put back together. And through one of the harder seasons of her life, Amy says work became something unexpected – a refuge.

“Work was my safe space,” she said. “And that is a testament to the culture here, that you enjoy working with your colleagues and the patients.”

That culture is exactly what the Colleague Emergency Fund is built to protect, according to Helm. “Our colleagues are moms, dads, community members,” she added. “Making sure we can come alongside them means they can be the best version of themselves while caring for our community.”

Visit memorial.health if you’d like to learn more about the Lincoln Memorial Foundation or call Sarah Helm at 217-605-5006 for more details about the hospital’s Colleague Emergency Fund.