LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — A young Lee’s Summit woman’s empathy has led to action. At age 27, Erin Little has founded a group to help tens of thousands of people live with chronic disease.
“I pretty much work Indian hours,” Erin says as she looks at her laptop.
She’s in her parents’ Lee’s Summit home, but her heart is in India.
“If you’ve been deeply affected by something, you have no choice but to follow through,” says Erin.
It all goes back to childhood at church. Erin was moved by a story about a poor girl in India. At age 11, Erin was diagnosed with type one diabetes. Finger sticks and insulin shots have been part of her life every day since.
“I’d say the most challenging thing is finding empathy in other people and having people understand what your life is like because it’s really an invisible illness,” says Erin.
Last year, Erin went to India on a fellowship and saw what life is like for people with diabetes there. Villagers’ income is less than two dollars a day. They get their blood sugar tested fewer than four times a year. Most don’t have doctors or pharmacies within 20 miles.
Erin remembers one young woman who’d gone untreated.
“She ended up getting pregnant and lost the baby due to her diabetes complications,” says Erin.
Erin’s empathy has led her to found a non-profit organization called Sucre Blue. It’s training 15 women.
“The community health workers are more or less Avon ladies of diabetes, so they’re going door-to-door screening, diagnosing,” says Erin.
They will also screen for high blood pressure and heart disease, and they’ll link people to treatment. Erin’s initial goal is for those 15 women to reach 50,000 people.
“There’s times it definitely gets overwhelming or you wake up and you think oh, my God, 50,000 people?” says Erin.
But she says to see something you’ve dreamed about since childhood become reality is very exciting and motivating. Erin will go back to India in the fall to oversee the efforts. To see how you can help, go to www.sucreblue.org.
