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When her dear friend JoAnn Hardegger was admitted to the hospital with a serious medical condition during a high-risk pregnancy, Sona Mehring was inundated with questions from concerned friends and family. After making a few phone calls providing updates on the couple’s behalf, this software engineer thought… “There’s got to be a better way,” and she set about creating the first CaringBridge website for baby Brighid May Swanson (who tragically lived only nine days). At the time Mehring led a busy life juggling family and her consulting company, but she quickly realized the power of that first website—its ability to serve as a powerful platform connecting loved ones during difficult health journeys. “I talked to so many people, and eventually came to the conclusion that if I jumped, I had to believe the net would appear, and be able to hold me,” she reflects. “It did, thanks to the love and support of so many who believed in CaringBridge then—and now.”
On June 7, 1997, CaringBridge launched as a free online tool for sharing health updates. Now, nearly a quarter century later, this pioneering platform has had more than 2.5 billion visits. In 2021 alone nearly 400,000 people per day visited CaringBridge to give and receive love, hope and compassion. Nearly 90% donor funded, the platform is supported by a team of 45 people, working in Eagan, MN, and remotely, who keep CaringBridge up-and-going for users in every state, country and territory in the world.
While today’s social media platforms tragically seem inundated with posts, imagery and information ranging from disturbing, hateful conspiracy theory to benign useless banter and toxic peer pressure, CaringBridge seems to have established an online ecosystem focused on health, healing, support…and love. “I have always believed in the power of love, hope and compassion,” explains Mehring. “We believe that no one should go through a health journey alone, and that healing is always possible, and valuable, even when cure is not an outcome.” Mehring’s 2013 book “Hope Conquers All: Inspiring Stories of Love and Healing from CaringBridge” illuminates diverse stories unified around the simple premise that hope conquers all. Indeed, CaringBridge for so many has been that reservoir of hope and support during life’s toughest moments.
Particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, many families around the world have turned to CaringBridge to not just provide a practical and efficient way to keep friends and families informed on their health journeys but also to receive much-needed words of support which can sometimes be the best medicine during a frightening medical situation. “When people had to be separated directly and indirectly because of Covid-19, they often used CaringBridge to stay connected in ways no one ever imagined,” Mehring notes. “It all comes down to the power of community. The effects of isolation can be devastating and having a place like CaringBridge to stay in touch can matter so much.”
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Having endured the multiple effects of living with Long COVID since March 2020, Kelly Keeney of Beachwood, NJ, received tremendous support and encouragement through CaringBridge. A career mortgage processor, Kelly has been unable to return to work because of seizures, short-term memory loss, extreme fatigue and other debilitating symptoms. As her health permits, Keeney volunteers for COVID Survivors for Change, a national group that advocates for legislative change at the state and federal levels. She has also helped the nonprofit CaringBridge team create a Long COVID Support Center, a resource that affirms the healing power of community. “People with Long COVID can feel really sick, even when others can’t see it,” Keeney explains. “To hear, ‘Wow!’ and to have your symptoms acknowledged … there’s healing in that.”
Jennifer Ndegwa reunited with her husband after breast cancer treatment.
When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2020, teacher Jennifer Ndegwa was living in Mesquite, TX. Unfortunately, her husband, Nic, was 8,700 miles away in Nairobi, Kenya waiting for pandemic restrictions to permit travel to the United States. Through a scary and lonely time for the couple, who were ultimately separated for 230 days, CaringBridge was a source of community, and love. On the day that their family was reunited, Jen wrote in her CaringBridge Journal, “I can’t believe this day FINALLY arrived!!! And I am reunited with my husband. What a wonderful feeling. Thank you, Lord. And thank you to so many people who prayed for us all along the way.”
In 2017 on CaringBridge’s 20th anniversary, Sona Mehring officially retired, but she continues to give generously of her time and remains a generous donor and “chief ambassador” for CaringBridge. For nearly 25 years CaringBridge has provided a platform for social connection during life’s most difficult times. During today’s environment of social media-fueled divisivness and toxicity, it may represent the noblest example of the power of online connection.
