About Us

The Foundation is dedicated to strengthening CF families by helping them to be financially self-sufficient. It is the brainchild of a CF adult, Susan Burroughs, who in 1992 at the age of 32 recognized a need among CF patients to connect with other families and patients for support. This was before the time of social media. For 6 years, she produced a newsletter called Reaching Out. Distribution grew from a handful of subscribers to over 1,500 CF patients and families all over the U.S. As her own condition progressed and treatment became more costly, culminating in a double lung transplant, she discovered many families were forced to compromise their children’s health because they could not afford the additional financial burden. She also found that since patients take up to 20 prescription drugs at a time, many were forgoing medications because they did not have the coverage or could not afford co-payments. Watching friends lose their lives to CF, she realized that there was much work to be done to provide patients with access to care while the scientific community continues to work toward a cure.

This was the impetus for Cystic Fibrosis-Reaching Out Foundation Inc., an all-volunteer benevolent organization founded in 1998 and committed to providing financial assistance to CF patients. Cystic Fibrosis Centers that we currently serve are: Emory University, Atlanta, GA; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta GA; Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA; University of Alabama, Birmingham, Al; Nemours Children’s Clinic, Jacksonville, FL and other cystic fibrosis centers as requested by specific donors.