OUR STORY

Love Labor Project as an organization will close on November 1, 2021 - we will no longer be offering virtual or in-person programming. Aisha, Rachel, and the Board believe in this act of Radical Self-Care - unfortunately, it is not sustainable for caregivers to provide support to other caregivers when the care they are able to receive isn’t enough to combat their burnout. While we know that caregivers know best what caregivers need, we hope that this pandemic has shown the world gain a better understanding of what it means to feel isolated, alone, and overwhelmed. You are not alone, friend.

We are here for you - you can still reach out to Aisha and Rachel, and this community of beautiful caregivers lives on.

We know things can be incredibly hard. And we also know that YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS.

YOU GOT THIS. 💙

Aisha announcement.png — When her mother was diagnosed with dementia in 2013, Aisha Adkins was plunged into the world of caregiving. As she dug for resources and searched for community, she quickly realized that the material and gatherings that were available failed to capture her experience as a Black millennial woman.

So when she couldn't find what she was looking for, she decided to create it. In 2017 she founded Our Turn 2 Care, a platform to connect marginalized millennial caregivers to information, resources, and each other. Aisha has used her gifts as a storyteller, her education, and her passion to shed a light on the challenges young caregivers face.

In 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, Aisha connected with Rachel Austin Bernstein, a fellow millennial caregiver and founder of Love Labor Project. Aisha joined the then virtual support groups Love Labor Project launched and the two women became fast friends, chatting about everything from caregiving to theater to business.

They knew early on that they wanted to work together to elevate caregivers' stories and amplify marginalized voices, but Aisha needed to finish her master's program at Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Public Studies. Once she graduated, Rachel and Aisha dreamed up a merger of Our Turn 2 Care and Love Labor Project given their shared mission and twin flame energy.

Aisha will be joining Rachel as Co-Executive Director of Love Labor Project, and Our Turn 2 Care will house outreach and programming for underserved and overlooked populations. Aisha and Rachel are two dynamic, enterprising women with big goals and even bigger hearts. Together, they cannot wait to turn the world of caregiving on its head!

We are a group of young adults 20-40 years old who have all experienced a parent with a serious and chronic illness, crave support from others going through the same thing, and have yet to find the services or programming we need.

We believe that a young adult caregiver is any person who has experienced a parent with a serious illness, between the ages of 20 and 40 years old, whether their parent is out-of-state, living in remission, and/or anything in between.

It was important to us that young adult caregivers create this organization together - we have been able to assess our needs, determine our guiding principles, and begin mapping out a plan to provide support where none existed before.

We have found that young adult caregivers crave three modes of support: 1) specific support groups led by mental health professionals; 2) social networking with other young adult caregivers – a community; 3) educational opportunities. Young adults are not established in their lives, their careers, their families, or their social/emotional development. They do not have experience navigating medical/healthcare systems, end-of-life planning, estate planning, financial planning, best practices for caring for an ill person or themselves, and a myriad of other topics. They crave education and knowledge so that they can feel a greater sense of capacity around dealing with some of the most difficult situations and decisions of their lives to date.

How We Started…

Rachel Austin_139 New.jpg — Love Labor Project was founded by Rachel Austin Bernstein in 2019, after receiving a Minnesota State Arts Board grant to create a project around her experiences as a young adult caregiver. The project was designed to serve the community in two ways: to convene young adult caregivers to form a new community and assess our needs, and to produce a one-woman show that honors the experience of being a young adult caregiver, to be presented to the broader community.

Rachel Austin came to the project through personal experience. Her mother, Ginger, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003, while Rachel was a junior in high school. The experience was particularly pronounced as Rachel is an only child and Ginger was recently divorced. Over the next 18 years, Ginger and Rachel dealt with numerous recurrences, various chemotherapy protocols and treatments, one clinical trial, five cancer-related surgeries, a daughter leaving home, one cross-country move, and many other unexpected circumstances.
Rachel’s life has been defined by her role as “caregiver” and her goal is to help others celebrate their identities outside of being a caregiver. She is passionate about fortifying our community with social-emotional connection and exploration, and helping others practice self-compassion. Love Labor Project is one of the biggest steps she’s taken to repairing her own spirit, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

This project’s launch was made possible through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the generous partners and donors listed here. We are deeply grateful for your support.

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Gilda’s Club Twin Cities | Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance | Jack’s Caregiver Coalition | Angel Foundation

with thanks to Firefly Sisterhood & She Climbs Mountains

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Rachel Austin is a fiscal year 2019 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.