The Heart Behind the Foundation
By Carlo — Founder, California Respite Care Foundation
There are moments in life that do not announce themselves with noise, success, or celebration. Instead, they arrive quietly—changing the direction of your soul without warning. For me, that moment began long before I realized it. It began in my childhood, in a small home held together by the strength of two women: my mother and my grandmother.
I grew up with asthma, sleep apnea, and severe anxiety episodes. In the mid-1980s, treatments were limited, medications were scarce, and resources were almost nonexistent. But what I had was love—unwavering, unconditional love. My mother worked tirelessly to put food on our table, while my grandmother became my anchor, my nurse, my protector, and my comfort through every breathless night and hospital scare. She prepared my meals, laid out my clothes, watched over my sleep, and held me through every moment of fear I could not understand.
At the time, I never realized the weight she carried. I was simply a child trying to survive. It was only decades later—while working as a caregiver—that I finally understood the sacrifices she made.
The Calling I Never Expected
Five years ago, I became a caregiver. I stepped into the homes of people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s—people with long stories behind them and fragile chapters ahead. Caregiving, I discovered, is not just about assisting the elderly. It is about understanding the human condition: vulnerability, resilience, dignity, fear, and hope.
One of my clients once told me something I have never forgotten:
“You may have all the problems in the world, but when you have a health problem… you only have
one.”
I watched families I cared for struggle with that truth.
I watched sons become nurses overnight.
Wives become full-time caretakers.
Grandchildren step into roles they were never prepared for.
Most family caregivers are untrained, overwhelmed, and silently breaking under the weight they carry. Yet they keep going—because love demands it.
Working 12-hour shifts, and sometimes 24-hour live-in assignments, I began to feel something growing
inside me:
a painful truth I could no longer ignore.
Helping one family at a time wasn’t enough.
Something bigger was needed.
Something lasting.
Something that could lift many, not just one.
The Loss That Changed Everything
During the pandemic, my grandmother—my hero—fell ill with dementia and COVID-19. And I was not there. She needed me the most, and I was miles away, caring for others.
This grief stays with me.
This regret transformed me.
Maybe, as painful as it was, it was part of a bigger plan—a plan that would push me to build something that honors her love, her care, and her legacy. A plan that would allow me to help others the way she helped me.
Understanding the Crisis
There is a quiet crisis happening behind closed doors:
Through years of experience, research, and witnessing countless families struggle, I realized something simple but powerful:
Caregivers need care, too.
And families need support, education, and relief.
This is not a luxury.
It is a necessity.
The Birth of California Respite Care Foundation
Every morning, a thought repeats in my heart:
“Do the right thing. Do the compassionate thing. Do the necessary thing.”
With that conviction, the California Respite Care Foundation was born.
Our foundation exists to:
This mission is bigger than me.
It is bigger than any single organization.
It is a movement toward justice, compassion, and humanity
Why I Need Your Support
Starting this foundation requires infrastructure, registration, nonprofit status, education programs, outreach, volunteers, and systems. I am only one person—driven by purpose, but limited in resources.
Your support is not just funding.
It is a lifeline.
It becomes:
When you help us, you help real people—people who are silently fighting battles every day.
The Legacy I Hope to Build
I have held the hands of the elderly at dawn.
I have wiped the tears of families unsure of what tomorrow holds.
I have felt the exhaustion, the fear, and the deep love that keeps caregivers moving forward.
This foundation is my promise—to my grandmother, to every family I’ve served, and to every caregiver who feels unseen.
I am asking, from the deepest part of my heart:
Help me build something that will outlive me.
Help us create real change.
Help us bring hope back to families who feel they are losing themselves.
Together, we can be the answer.
Together, we can give caregivers a chance to breathe again.
Together, we can make respite care accessible for all.
Please join us in our mission
