{"id":1162,"date":"2017-10-27T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2017-10-23T17:02:34","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T21:02:34","slug":"tracy-foss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1162","title":{"rendered":"Tracy Foss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paying Hope Forward<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Jasmine Gomez | Photography by Mary Grace Johnson<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

On a family road trip to her in-laws\u2019 house in Boston for Thanksgiving, Tracy Foss began to wonder if something was wrong. Her daughter, Madeline, was remarkably thirsty. She just couldn\u2019t seem to get enough water. The family had to keep pulling over to let Maddy use the restroom. The same thing happened on the way home, and then again when Maddy returned to preschool.<\/p>\n

Wondering if something was off, Tracy took her 5-year-old daughter to see a doctor, not expecting life to change completely. Now, it\u2019s been about 10 years since Maddy was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that causes the pancreas to produce little to no insulin. There\u2019s currently no prevention or cure for type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

No one else in the family had been diagnosed with the disease. For Tracy, it really felt like the diagnosis came out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an absolute shock,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cShe was a happy, healthy little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking for an outlet, Tracy became involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation \u2014 now simply known as JDRF \u2014 a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding type 1 diabetes research. Within a year of Maddy\u2019s diagnosis, she attended a fundraising event for the JDRF One walk, an annual family event aimed at supporting the JDRF\u2019s mission. The walk also serves to connect families caring for those with type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Through the JDRF, Tracy learned how other families managed the diagnosis. That knowledge helped Tracy and her family decide what would work best for her daughter.<\/p>\n

Finding the organization\u2019s events to be an excellent resource, Tracy became a dedicated volunteer. She helped with the walk and became co-chair of the JDRF\u2019s annual spring gala.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiabetes can be really challenging and overwhelming and sad. So, I felt if I started to get involved, the volunteering was cathartic and therapeutic,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cIt gave me a sense of\u00a0empowerment and that I could do something positive in light of this bleak diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n

As her children got older and life busier, Tracy always stayed connected with the JDRF in some way.<\/p>\n

Then, in December 2016, Tracy made the transition from volunteer to full-time staff member. Now, she serves as executive director for the Central New York chapter of the JDRF.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to spend time away from your family, you want it to mean something and you want to make a difference,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cAnd in this particular case, I\u2019m able to combine my personal passion to find a cure for Maddy and everyone like her along with my career, so I think that that\u2019s an ideal combination.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to community outreach, Tracy\u2019s responsibilities as executive director include fundraising to support the management of type 1 diabetes, as well as the search for its cure.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to do the greatest good for the largest number of people in the shortest period of time,\u201d Tracy said.<\/p>\n

The JDRF is constantly working to support families who have received a new diagnosis. Each person who has been recently diagnosed receives a Bag of Hope, filled with toys, a glucose meter and information on life with type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

For Tracy, the JDRF and the families involved with the organization gave her a support net-work, something she needed when Maddy was diagnosed. Now, as executive director, Tracy has the chance to pay that support and hope forward to other families faced with new diagnoses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest source of hope for me is knowing [about] all of the research that\u2019s happening, knowing that there is a possibility that Maddy won\u2019t have to live with this disease for the rest of her life,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cThat helps make really bad days a little bit better.\u201d SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on the JDRF, visit jdrf.org\/centralny<\/a>. Mark your calendars for the organization\u2019s upcoming One Night Gala, slated for Saturday, April 7, at SKY Armory<\/a> in downtown Syracuse.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paying Hope Forward By Jasmine Gomez | Photography by Mary Grace Johnson On a family road trip to her in-laws\u2019 house in Boston for Thanksgiving, Tracy Foss began to wonder if something was wrong. Her daughter, Madeline, was remarkably thirsty. She just couldn\u2019t seem to get enough water. The family had to keep pulling over…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[315,425,426,160,428,402,427,204,262,421,424],"class_list":["post-1162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-jasmine-gomez","tag-jdrf","tag-juvenile-diabetes-research-foundation","tag-mary-grace-johnson","tag-national-diabetes-month","tag-november-2017","tag-one-night-gala","tag-sky-armory","tag-syracuse-woman-magazine","tag-the-philanthropy-edition","tag-tracy-foss"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/SWMTracy-27-2.jpg?fit=5200%2C3438&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2340,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2340","url_meta":{"origin":1162,"position":0},"title":"INSPIRE: Tracy Higginbotham, owner of WomenTIES","author":"Staff","date":"April 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"By Samantha Leader \u00a0 Tracy Higginbotham has had entrepreneurship in her blood since she was a little girl. 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