Casual Friday: Hope and help for those with Type 1 diabetes

Stephanie and Mitch Bowen were overwhelmed when their daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The first thing they did was to learn as much as they could about Type 1 diabetes, which is an autoimmune disease, meaning the immune system attacks the pancreas and destroys the cells that produce insulin.

What came next was a desire to share what they learned and to put in place a support network and assistance for families. In what the Bowens describe as a community effort, and with a large dose of help from St. Joseph Regional Medical Center registered nurse Susan Rauch, they formed the nonprofit Hometown T1D.

Craig Clohessy: Share a little more about how this all came together.

Stephanie Bowen: Our 10-year-old daughter, Addy, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes Aug. 21, 2018. ... We just felt super passionate about Type 1 diabetes; learning all that we could about it, wanting to help others if we could and so we formulated this idea to start a nonprofit. (The idea was) to bridge the gap of financial help that really wasn’t here in the valley. There’s a huge Type 1 diabetic community but there was no financial help to go along with that.

CC: Tell us a little bit about what all the nonprofit does.

Mitch Bowen: With Hometown T1D, we have quite a few missions and the first one is to provide the support for newly diagnosed members in our community and their families. When we hear of someone being diagnosed we want to be there or send a gift and provide support through the scary times that their families can go through. We have gift baskets with supplies, merchandise from our organization Hometown T1D, along with some snacks that are low carb, things like that so that it brings something positive in a negative time that is turning their world upside down.

The next mission that we provide is education and resources and supplies for people that are in need. People can apply on our website (www.hometownt1d.org) for each of those things, tell us their situation and then our board members will review it and decide how we can help based on our finances and based on their individual situation. We do serve a nine-county region (Asotin, Garfield, Whitman, Nez Perce, Latah, Lewis, Clearwater, Idaho and Columbia counties) and it’s all surrounding here in the valley.

The next mission is to provide ... a support group. We are going to be meeting once a month where we do activities and be there for each other, talk about different questions people may have, talk about experiences and really just bringing these like-minded people together so that they’re able to vent if they’re wanting to, get ideas if they’re needing those and really just be there for each other in real world situations.

Next are the diabetic alert dogs. We have different trainers that we are partnering with so that people can choose which one is best for them. And we provide funding for those because those are a higher expense. Assistance with that is very much needed in order to get another tool in their toolbox.

And then the last one is Camp Stix and Camp Twigs, (which are designed for different age groups). The camps are near Spokane every summer. They had to cancel it this year unfortunately, but we’re able to hold more funds from this year to be able to help more kids next year. This is a camp where Type 1 diabetic children are able to come together and have a normal life and be able to basically have fun and forget about their disease.

CC: Susan, you’re a registered nurse. What’s your involvement with the organization?

Susan Rauch: I’m a certified diabetes care and education specialist at St. Joe’s hospital and I became involved with the Bowens when Addy was newly diagnosed as her educator. This couple has really formed a mission to help not only their child but all children and other adults. So they’ve asked me to be a board member and I was honored to play a role in that. So I am a board member with a number of other professionals in our community and I’m also the treasurer.

In addition, I’ll be doing more education in the diabetes support group, in the community and at the event so the medical aspect of managing.

CC: The event you mentioned is a fundraiser this Saturday. Share a little bit about that.

SB: It’s a 5K Color Run and it’s at Kiwanis Park in Lewiston. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and the run begins at 9 a.m. You can walk or run and you’ll be covered in color powder and learn maybe a little bit more about Type 1 diabetes and the funds raised there will go to all of these things we’ve spoken about. We’ll have music and a little bit of food at the end and a lot of fun.

CC: What is the charge?

SB: It’s $30 and you get a T-shirt and sunglasses.

CC: Do you need to register in advance or can you show up to do it?

SB: You can show up but the T-shirt is not guaranteed if you don’t preregister.

MB: If they’re wanting to register on Friday (today), registration is on the website, hometownt1d.org.

CC: We’re in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. What all will be done at the Color Run to ensure safety?

SR: We follow the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines and that is really about good hand-washing, hand sanitizer will be provided to all registrants at the event. We ask people to bring their masks and social distancing is important. We’ve actually staggered the run so that we can protect our community. ... We’re going to be following the recommendations from our health professionals. As far as diabetes, anybody with a chronic illness needs to be more aware and they are at higher risk because of their chronic disease and so with that said, it’s very important to all of us that we protect each other. The masks will be used and then as the walk and run progresses, it’s recommended we actually remove the masks because exercise with a mask on is not recommended and so that’s why social distancing will be in practice.

Clohessy is managing editor of the Lewiston Tribune. He may be contacted at cclohessy@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2251.