By early 2019, Emmy had been off treatment for nearly a year. Her scans were clear. Her hair was growing back. And the idea of Emmy’s Friends — a nonprofit built from everything the family had learned and received during treatment — was beginning to take real shape.
In February of that year, the Vail Valley Charitable Fund shared an update on Emmy and the emerging organization, naming the family a grant recipient.
“It has been 10 months since Emmy’s last treatment session at Children’s Hospital, and she has just received another set of clear scans,” the Welles wrote. “All of our spirits are through the roof getting to watch her be a regular little girl who just turned 3 years old. In other news, we are in the process of launching our very own non-profit that will be known as Emmy’s Friends.”
They closed with this: “We wouldn’t be here today if not the love and support of our amazing community.”
The VVCF grant was one of the first institutional recognitions that what the family had built — the organization, the story, the community of care around it — was worth investing in.