About Ava’s Heart

Our Work

AVA’S HEART is a unique nonprofit charity dedicated to providing financial assistance for organ transplant patients who cannot afford necessary treatment and care. Founded by heart transplant recipient Ava Kaufman, we provide pre-transplant and post-transplant patients a wide variety of basic essentials not covered by insurance. Without outside financial assistance, many families become financially insolvent, or even worse, some patients do not survive. Ava’s Heart also provides emotional and psychological support for both transplant patients on the waiting list, as well as those who now live with the realities of post-transplant life. Along with our partner LWMT, we are able to assist donor families with cremation costs. Without the donor, there is no story.

Cause: Ava’s Heart is a 501(c) 3 non-profit charitable organization that provides critically needed assistance to transplant patients who are unable to access or afford it. Since one of the crucial components of being eligible to receive a lifesaving organ is to prove access to temporary housing near the transplant center, access to lifesaving transplants becomes not only a medical issue, but also one of healthcare inequity. Low-income and other historically disenfranchised communities do not have the resources to meet these criteria. 

Need: To address the social injustice and disparity that exists in the US for access to life- saving transplant services, by helping less fortunate transplant and donor families who are in need, by providing innovative wraparound services, temporary mandated housing, and encouraging systemic change that allows for increased access to transplant services. Core to these services is providing the mandated pre & post-transplant housing, in addition to ancillary supportive services for their transplant-related care. Ava’s Heart is committed to addressing and reducing this disparity to save the lives of those who need transplants for survival.

Impact: To provide initial stop-gap funding to fund the existing housing facility and, at the same time, pursue the creation of a sustainable and reliable recurring source of revenue through the California specialty license plate program that will provide sustained funding to save the lives of those who need transplants for survival. Ava’s Heart housing initiative provides a home away from home for transplant patients and their caregivers, by providing the mandated 3 months of housing post-transplant near transplant centers.