Today - just like every day - thousands of adult children will quit their jobs to become full-time caregivers for their parents. And it isn’t just adult children making this choice; spouses, siblings, and other relatives are routinely walking away from successful careers to step into the role of an unpaid caregiver. When they do, the financial blow is immediate. Not only does the caregiver lose their primary income, but family savings are quickly drained to cover mounting living expenses and medical care.
The cost of skilled nursing homes and memory care facilities is simply unreachable for most families, generally ranging between $60,000 and $100,000 a year. Private home care isn’t an affordable long-term solution either, with most private aides charging as much as $45 per hour.
Due to these excessive costs, the vast majority of long-term care in America relies on unpaid family caregivers rather than professional facilities. Data indicates that approximately 93% of individuals receiving care live at home, supported by family and friends. Recent surveys show that this silent network has grown to include about 63 million unpaid family caregivers across the United States.
The Cost of Free Labor
Family caregiving is often described as a labor of love, but economically, it is an exhausting, unpaid full-time job. Across the United States, family caregivers contribute an astounding $1 trillion annually in unpaid labor. The average caregiver spends 27 hours a week managing medication, cooking, driving to appointments, and providing physical assistance. For nearly a quarter of them, it is a 40+ hour weekly commitment.
To sustain this, family caregivers are forced to cut back their working hours or leave the workforce entirely. When they walk away from their jobs to care for a loved one, they don’t just lose a paycheck. They lose their employer-sponsored healthcare.
Stranded without coverage, caregivers frequently neglect their own medical needs because they are forced to choose between paying for their loved one’s care or their own. Yet, caregivers are highly susceptible to intense mental stress and physical injuries. If a caregiver becomes ill and is unable to fulfill their duties, the entire family structure collapses.
This exact breaking point is where The Dana Family Relief Foundation steps in.
Building the Bridge: The Dana Family Relief Foundation
Based in Florida, this 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is dedicated to providing direct financial relief to family caregivers. The organization focuses on two critical areas where immediate financial assistance can make a lasting difference:
Healthcare Plan Assistance: Helping eligible family caregivers maintain their own health coverage by providing financial assistance with healthcare plan payments.
Student Loan Interest Assistance: Helping eligible family caregivers manage student loan interest obligations while balancing the financial demands of caregiving.
Both programs offer vital financial assistance for up to three years, with the opportunity to reapply.
In an interview yesterday, Dana Litherland, founder and President of The Dana Family Relief Foundation, shared the core philosophy driving the nonprofit: “Family caregivers provide an extraordinary service to their loved ones and to society, yet many are sacrificing their own financial futures in the process. Our mission is to turn appreciation into meaningful action through direct financial relief. Every donation represents an opportunity to give a caregiver something invaluable: greater financial stability and hope for the future.”
When I asked Dana what inspired her to found the organization, her answer was deeply personal. Dana experienced firsthand what it means to lose financial stability, sacrifice healthcare coverage, and watch student loan debt mount after stepping away from her career to care for her own family members.
Like millions of others, Dana prioritized her family. She knew that guiding her parents through their changing health needs and the various stages of aging wasn’t an obligation - it was an act of love. In fact, Dana told me that caring for her parents was “one of the greatest privileges of my life.”
But she also discovered the hidden reality: prioritizing the well-being of a loved one comes at an extraordinary personal financial cost. The loss of career income, healthcare benefits, and the ability to build long-term financial security can leave scars that extend well beyond the caregiving years.
“As I reflected on my experience, I recognized that this challenge reaches far beyond my own family,” Dana said. “Millions of Americans are navigating the financial realities of caregiving, often sacrificing their own economic security while providing essential care to the people they love.”
Dana quickly learned that there is a massive gap in available caregiver resources. While many wonderful organizations provide education, advocacy, and emotional support, programs offering direct financial assistance to address the caregiver’s own bills and obligations are virtually non-existent.
That realization became the inspiration for the foundation.
Caregiving affects families across every generation, income level, and geographic boundary. Dana recognizes that caregivers themselves are often “an overlooked population within the broader healthcare and charitable landscape.”
Though the foundation was launched in late 2025 and is based in Florida, their long-term vision is to support eligible family caregivers throughout the entire United States as resources grow. Currently, the foundation’s immediate priority is securing the funding required to begin distributing direct financial assistance to caregivers in need. Dana and her board of directors are actively building relationships with individual donors, corporate sponsors, philanthropic partners, and community foundations.
Honestly, I cannot imagine a company that wouldn’t want to back this mission. There is no better way to show your workforce that you understand and respect the grueling realities of caring for aging loved ones.
If you lead a company, or if you are an individual with a big heart and a healthy investment portfolio, please reach out to Dana. Ultimate success means changing the national conversation surrounding family caregiving - and finally recognizing that a caregiver’s own health, financial security, and future matter.
To partner with this remarkable organization or to learn more, please visit
Thank you for your continued support. Linda and I are incredibly grateful.
Sources:
https://www.aplaceformom.com/senior-living-data/caregiver-statistics
https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/ltss/family-caregiving/caregiving-in-the-us-2025/
https://mylifesite.net/blog/post/report-shows-family-caregiving-is-reaching-a-breaking-point