Habitat For Hope
There are many things I love about Martin’s Ride. Meeting people like Mark Horrocks is one of my favorites. Mark founded Habitat for Hope after Bella Rose, his beautiful 3 year old, developed stage IIIA Malignant Melanoma. Bella Rose needed treatment at St. Judes in Memphis. This meant a health care relocation for Mark, his wife Mylissa and their young family. Mark and Mylissa were lucky. They had the support of their friends and community in Florida.
Realizing that not everyone is as lucky, Mark set about creating Habitat For Hope, a 502(c) 3 not-for-profit to help develop support systems for other families in need. Regular readers of my blogs know how much I love selfless people like Mark and Mylissa. Call this “give back” ethos a new altruism, NonZero or a genetic predisposition to share, care and assist using modern tools, sweat equity and sacrifice.
I met Mark randomly in a Bluff City Coffee when my bike broke down and we had to rehab it in Memphis. Are there random events really? Cancer seems the ultimate random event, yet it provides purpose, commitment and daring. Cancer isn’t fun and hardly fair when a three year old has to fight for her life. Little about cancer seems “fair” in any case, but we humans can find the glass is half full moment in almost anything.
Getting to meet brave, selfless and heroic people like Mark and Mylissa is what I love about Martin’s Ride the most (bar none). Our distance from each other is so much smaller than we think, our capacity to give so much greater. Stop by Habitat for Hope and learn about how Mark, Mylissa and his beautiful daughter Bella Rose can help you, a friend or family member in need of a health care support system.
Habitat For Hope Web Site
Donate to Habitat for Hope
Meeting Mark gives me a chance to THANK my health care support system made up of researchers, doctors, nurses, friends and family. Thanks for saving my life guys I hope I can repay your belief and faith.
Marty Smith
Memphis, Tennessee
July 14, 2010