Donor Stories: Newly Established “Band Aid” Fund Helps Patients with Non-Medical Expenses

In early 2021, Chip and Karen Chaikin pledged $250,000 to the Institute for H.O.P.E.™ for the creation and management of the Anita Chaikin Band Aid Fund. The fund, named in memory of Anita Chaikin Schvimer, their mother and mother-in-law, is designed to assist eligible patients on a case-by-case basis with immediate basic needs (food, transportation, housing and other social services, for example).

The gift honors the care that Anita, who passed away in 2011, received at MetroHealth. The Chaikins were struck by the level of compassionate and empathetic care she received at the end of her life. It was the best medical experience they had, even though it was one of the saddest times of their lives, they said.

At the time, the family requested donations in her memory to MetroHealth’s Senior Health & Wellness Center. This time around, they wanted to make the kind of impact that would be able to respond quickly to a patient’s immediate short-term needs.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about things like having the money to pay rent or get your car repaired when you’re focusing on medical care,” Chip Chaikin said. “We wanted a way for people to get the extra help they need without having a lot of red tape slowing down the process.”

Patients will be identified by MetroHealth caregivers. Their needs will be determined in part by MetroHealth’s Social Determinants of Health screening, which identifies immediate needs that affect a person’s health.

The Chaikins remember Anita – a woman who finished college while raising three young children by herself after the death of her first husband – as “pure sunshine.”

“It’s very fitting to have her name on this fund, but if she were here, she’d tell us to take her name off of it,” Karen Chaikin said. “We hope that others who are looking for a way to give back will think about potentially donating to a fund like this.”