Posted By Sidney on December 13, 2009
The oft quoted if not overly used statement from the late American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead suggests that we should:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Tori Tuncan has taken this to heart as she devised an innovative solution to prevalent social issue from the table of her kitchen table. No one told her that she couldn’t so she simply did. Tuncan founded Lend4Health, a nonprofit that facilitates community-funded, interest-free micro-loans as a creative funding option for individuals and groups seeking optimal health. Lend4Health is facilitates loans for the biomedical treatment of children and adults with autism spectrum and related disorders.
After reading this interview, show Tori Tuncan love by offering comments below or becoming a lender with Lend4Health.
Q: Why did you start the Lend 4 Health?
Tuncan: I started Lend4Health to help the biomedical autism community help itself, and receive help from others, so that families could have a unique way to pay for treatment for their kids. I was made aware of the financial challenges of many families because I am a member of this community myself and was moved to action from hearing their stories in online message groups. My desire to help combined with the Kiva micro-loan model produced Lend4Health.
Q: What is most unique about your work?
Tuncan: As will be obvious to anybody visiting the Lend4Health site, once I had the idea for Lend4Health, I didn’t spend months or big bucks creating a beautiful website. Lend4Health was built on Blogger.com because that’s all I knew how to do! So it certainly isn’t “pretty” or “snazzy” or “sexy,” and the user experience leaves much to be desired. But what I think Lend4Health demonstrates is that one person can have impact and create change at the kitchen table, and that it really isn’t “that” hard.
Q: What work other than your own would you like to attempt?
Tuncan: I am really intrigued by how the web and mobile technologies are changing the way people around the world interact and join together for common good, and how they can share, swap, lend, and transfer goods, money, opinions, and karma very easily and cost-effectively. I am looking forward to seeing where this might take us as a global people, and I may find myself attempting other work in this area. Since creating Lend4Health I have come up with three other ideas that I’d love to pursue, one is autism-specific, one is more general health-oriented, and one relates to climate change. I just have not allowed myself the minutes and hours to take them any further than thinking, “Gee, that would be cool!”
Q: What work would you not like to do?
Tuncan: I would not want to do work in which the impact of my efforts was difficult to determine. The impact does not necessarily need to be direct, or peer-to-peer, but if I have to think for more than a minute to explain how my efforts are making an impact, then it’s not the right work for me.
Q: What motivates you?
Tuncan: I believe I am motivated by interesting ideas and concepts, positive energy, and optimism.
Q: What drains you?
Tuncan: Negativity and blaming. I’m blessed to be one of those optimistic kinds of people, so I just don’t understand people who are really negative.
Q: What is your favorite buzzword?
Tuncan: “Mobile” as in mobile technology is my favorite. I really know nothing much about mobile tech, but I do know from some of my international travels that there is great potential in effecting change and helping others using mobile tech.
Q: What is your least favorite buzzword?
Tuncan: “Disruptive” as in “disruptive technology” is my least favorite by far. I always think of “disruptive” in a negative sense, as in when my kids are being “disruptive,” so I always kind of cringe when I hear this one.
Q: What is the best success story you have witnessed within your organization?
Tuncan: We once had a family with five kids and all of them were sick with a host of issues. The mom believed she knew what was ailing them, and she got the one test that was paid by her insurance. But, the results came back negative. She did her own research and remained convinced that she was correct. She learned of another, more comprehensive test that was considered a definitive test but it was not covered by insurance. Unfortunately, she did not have the financial resources to pursue this test for her kids, and, even more unfortunately, she did not have the support of her extended family, or even her spouse, to pursue the test. Her conviction became a large tension in her family. Her marriage was in jeopardy and all her kids continued to get sicker. She learned about Lend4Health and got a loan from 20 strangers for the tests. The results came back positive; her intuition had been right. This changed everything around for this family. Not only did they finally have an answer to their children’s illness and could now pursue appropriate treatment, but the family unit was saved as well. To me, that’s a pretty amazing return on a $500 investment, especially when you think this investment was spread across 20 people.
Q: If you only had a sound bite to encapsulate your life, what would it be?
Tuncan: I have traveled deep, and I have traveled far, and what I have found is that we are more alike than we are different. Indeed, we are one!
Category: Raising the Buzz |
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Tags: adults with autism, anthropology, autism, autism community, autism spectrum, biomedical intervention, cultural anthropologist, cultural anthropology, health, Lend4Health, mobile technology, raisin' the buzz, Tori Tuncan
