As we all look within our hearts to ensure the health, safety, and love of those most important to us, the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois (NKFI) is hoping you will also find a place in your heart to support our kidneys – more specifically, our kidney communities throughout the state of Illinois. As NKFI continues to serve individuals for whom COVID-19 is particularly debilitating – namely those living with or at high risk for developing kidney disease – we have added a variety of information, strategies, and FAQs to our website at www.nkfi.org to support individuals at all stages of kidney health as they navigate and protect themselves from COVID-19. At the same time, we ask you, as advocates and supporters of these kidney communities, to remember what is at stake for them:
As non-essential medical services and procedures are postponed, their need for dialysis treatment, dietary support, and transplant information does not disappear
As community centers close and phone calls go unanswered, their questions about how to protect themselves from COVID-19 as immunocompromised individuals require special attention
And as the percentage of African Americans diagnosed with COVID-19 reaches a rate comparable to the increased rate of diagnoses for chronic kidney disease in communities of color, disparities in access to health care are magnified in ways that cannot be ignored
With this in mind, all of us at NKFI are determined to continue serving our kidney communities with the following resources:
Our “Kidneys in the Kitchen” video series, available at www.nkfi.org and on YouTube, provides practical grocery shopping tips, dietary strategies, and kidney-healthy recipes for individuals maintaining strong kidney health while staying at home to protect their overall health
Our “Living with Kidney Disease & Transplantation” program, a comprehensive resource devoted to helping individuals navigate their respective kidney journeys from disease prevention to post-transplant, will be available virtually beginning on April 13 in English and April 20 in Spanish
Our health advocates forge ahead in their efforts to communicate with medical professionals, lawmakers and community leaders, ensuring that dialysis patients have access to necessary treatments, transplant surgeries are still considered essential for those awaiting life-changing donations; and policies are created to eliminate disparities in health care for people of color who are at higher risk for chronic kidney disease.
If you would like to support the development and delivery of these essential services, please visit our website at www.nkfi.org to make a donation, or click here. All of us at NKFI – and most importantly, our kidneys and kidney communities – are grateful for your support during this time.
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