CaringBridge

At first sight, the website seems to be a truly wonderful way to keep friends and family updated on loved ones. They have pop ups that constantly ask you to donate to them by preying on your emotions of the loved one you are keeping updated about. The donate button says «donate to honor (insert your loved one’s name). «I understand that they need some funds to operate the website, but the amount of money that is donated could and most likely far exceeds those costs, yet they do not do anything above and beyond operate the site. They do not assist the ones they accept money for on their behalf, nope not one penny! For instance, if someone donated $ 100 or even $ 1,000 to caring bridge in tribute to your loved one, not one penny goes to them. It is very misleading and many people believe they are donating to their loved one. I would be more impressed or less disgusted if I thought they did something for the site users or even if they offered medical or financial help with the excess funds they receive. I see a huge money maker here under the premise of a non profit organization. As long as they show the funds being paid out as salaries, they still qualify as a non profit. I would be interested to see the salaries of the founder and officers. Truly sad to see people preying on the misfortune of others illnesses for their own personal gain, by making it seem like such a caring organization.
If you want to get a true review of this organization, check out the reviews that really count… the ones of average people who leave average amount of reviews, not people who are paid to do so. Anyone who has left hundreds or thousands of reviews for various services are paid to do so!

This is a horrible site that prey on people and their sick love ones in the worst way. Tricking you into donating to them by making you think that you are donating to your loved ones. My Mother In Law have Breast Cancer and she started a jornal on CaringBridge to stay in touch with family and friends. I chose to do a fundraiser on YouCaring so she could get some help with medical bills. She posted the link on CaringBridge and CaringBridge went after the money that was donated to her for her medical bills. They are scam bags!!! How could they do that to someone with stage 3 cancer. Im disgusted with this people. I bet all the reviews in this page are fake. Burn in hell for doing this to someone.

While the mission of the site is meaningful it’s execution is very poor. I also had the misadventure of accidentally donating to the site itself and not to the family in need by clicking the very attractive «Tribute» box. A mistake I only caught after reading the family’s journal entry which had a donation link buried in it. Very poor design, especially compared to similar sites. After browsing around it was still unclear what the site was all about. They did refund my donation when I phoned, though the person on the phone was rude when I addressed the difficulty I’d had with the site. I was very polite and she answered me with silence, then said «Um, well, like I said, you’ll be refunded.» OooooKayyyy… No thanks!

Very dissapointed in this site. They prey on people and their sick love ones in the worst way. How do they do this? They trick you into donating to them by making you think you are donating to your loved ones. Tribute? That is just a sly way of saying, «We want your money». If this site really wanted to make a difference 51% of the «tribute» donations would go towards the individual and their family.

After one of my best friend’s gave birth to a perfect but extremely sick little baby, she started a CaringBridge page to share information with her loved ones on the little angel’s daily condition. It was one of the most brilliant and powerful things, as it allowed everyone that loves them, to feel involved and be able to share thoughts with the family as well as reduce the burden of returning phone calls/​emails for updates when the parents were spending practically 24 hours a day in the NICU.
The website is set up like a blog/​journal and it allows for the person that starts the page to write whatever they want, whenever they want, to update family/​friends (and even post pictures). It also has functionality where readers can interact (for example, they can «like» a post) and they can leave messages via a guest book.
Many years ago, one of my bff’s suffered a stroke and I started a yahoo group to achieve the same purpose. That group worked also, but had I known about CaringBridge, I would have absolutely used this instead. The functionality of the site, the way a personal page can live on to capture posts and the overall way it facilitates interaction is FAR superior to anything I’ve ever used. This is an incredible invention, started by truly amazing people and I’m told it’s funded 90% by donations from people that have been users.
While I hope that no one reading this ever has the need to set up a CaringBridge page, if you do, this is a pretty amazing site. Woohoo! CaringBridge is as good as it gets!
Unilocal 100 Challenge: ⁶⁵⁄₁₀₀

Thanks Robin, Rinky and Susan for reminding me what a wonderful site this is.
My BF was in Stanford for a bone marrow transplant… so close, but yet so far away. We communicated every day, and I felt like I was part of her journey.
Wonderful.

CaringBridge is remarkable! My girlfriend battled with cancer and it was a huge connection for her with all of her loved ones. It was her support line! Also, my best friend’s «stepdaughter» went through several stays in the hospital with medical issues. She was so young and looked forward to checking her CaringBridge sight every day to hear from her classmates, friends and family.
Thank you, CaringBridge!

A friend of mine had a devastating stroke. His then-​girlfriend logged in and created an account at CaringBridge to journal and let everyone know how he was doing. Whenever there was an update, I would receive an email.
Great website. Great way to keep people informed.

When loved ones are ill, we keep them in our thoughts. We seek information. Any information is treasured. Getting that information can be difficult, even a burden. No one wants to burden the caretakers when their load is already immeasurably heavy.
Not too long ago, a friend of mine from high school suffered a blow that should happen to no parent. Her beloved toddler was diagnosed with an illness that could easily take his life. Shock, fear, and anxiety spread through all of those whose lives my friend, her husband and the child had touched. The desire for information– daily– was present. But it would have been horrifying to call. They were strung out– at the hospital. Email was not an option. Then, we all received a message from CaringBridge.
I had never heard of the organization before. I will never forget it now. This 501c3 non for profit provided a web platform for my friends to set up a secure site where they could provide updates, pictures, and in return receive comments from those of us teetering on the edge waiting for news.
As the toddler has fought the illness, those of us cheering him on have had updates through this service. My friends are able to post updates as often or as infrequently as they choose. In turn, those of us on the sidelines can send comments back. This free service helps to create a community of care and love.
This organization provides a much needed platform to families and friends in need. Donations are accepted and encouraged. The difference that it makes in the lives of those who need it can only be described as absolutely astounding.

Whoa, I’m in shock.
But it’s not because
has a SOLID 5 star rating across the board! Afterall, caringbridge freaking ROCKS! I’d give it 5 GOLD stars if I could. But rather, I’m totally shocked to see that not only have other people heard of the INVALUABLE website but that the Unilocal community has already beat me to the punch by writing rave reviews about this unique and special website and the service it provides.
I thought for sure I’d be the first, especially considering I, myself, had NEVER heard of caringbridge (heck the doctors, in the county hospital currently caring for my critically injured friends didn’t even know what it was) until a recent tragedy occurred to a close friend of mine.
Recently, one of my close family friend’s youngest daughters was hit head on by a moving vehicle while crossing the street, she was immediately rushed to the hospital and put on life support. Being only 11 years old and petite in stature, this collision has left her in critical condition and a month after her accident, we are still praying for her to «wake up» from her state of unconsiousness.
Suffering from a tramatic brain injury along with a pelvic fracture, the road to recovery has been and will continue to be both long and unpredictable. Leaving those of us who knew her in a state of perpetual uncertainty and worry with looming feelings of concern. While her immediate family continues to stay by her side day and night, week after week, those of us who are unable to as involved, whether it be due to distance or what not, still have the oppurtunity to follow the progress of her recovery day by day, week after week, –THANKS TO CARINGBRIDGE!
provides an online forum connecting the friends and family of a loved one suffering from a serious health ailment and trauma with the information, status and progress of their loved one’s current medical condition during times of crisis.
By offering an online journal, in addition to several other applications (i.e. guestbook, photo album, etc), Caringbridge has kept those of us who are concerned with Rebecca’s (the young girl in the accident) progress in the loop by allowing her family members to post new updates online via the web journal, providing others, like myself, with any pertinent information regarding her well-​being and so forth.
The online caringbridge journal allows the immediate family members dealing with the crisis to keep their friends and family informed by checking their caringbridge website and I am so grateful to be able to monitor my friend’s progress despite the distance between us.
Furthermore, they allow guests to post warm messages to the family members as well as to sign up for email notifications. So thanks to the wonders of the world wide web I never miss an update.
provides an INVALUABLE service and truly is a wonderful way to keep connected during times of health crises.
While, I wish their were no need for such a service, the reality is accidents and illness do happen. Thankfully,
provides the tools to keep friends, families, and communities connected during times of tragic illness and health impairments.
So should you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I strongly suggest you check out caringbrige. It is an effective way to keep in touch with those concerned individuals who wish to help in anyway they can.
Thanks again caringbridge you make times of tragedy a little more bearable by keeping us connected.

CaringBridge offers an invaluable service to the loved ones of anyone who is is suffering a major illness or accident. My Daddy recently suffered a stroke and we were bombarded hourly with calls from family and friends so my sister set up a site on CaringBridge for our Daddy so that everyone can keep track of his daily ups and downs without having to make numerous calls and texts.
The person who sets up the site can make an unlimited amount of daily posts in a journal that anyone who wants to get notified every time a journal entry is made will receive an email with the update. Everyone who visits the site can post a comment (I am overwhelmed with the love and prayers that are being sent to my Daddy by people who have never even met him). Family photos can also be posted.
Even though I have been going home to visit my Daddy every weekend and talk to my Mom everyday my sister’s journal posts keep me updated to her personal experiences everyday with Daddy — which always make me cry either happy or sad tears…
One thing nobody has commented on is that all the journal entries, family photos and comments can be bound in a leather back book so that the ill person can have a story of their journey back to health and know how much they are loved! or a journal for the family of a deceased loved one.

Early one morning I received a notification that there was an update on the CaringBridge website. My sweet friend had recently had surgery for ovarian cancer and was about 5 days beyond her second chemotherapy. I braced myself not knowing what I would find but eager to know how she was doing. It was a few days after Christmas and she had traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona so I hoped for good news.
She informed her group of family and friends that her hair was gone and she had just gone cross country skiing. Whoa. Amazing. I learned Milk of Magnesia had saved her from the usual nausea and there were several cute stories about her son who is buds with my kid. She is a warrior and a fighter who will survive this dreaded disease. I felt very grateful for the CaringBridge website and happy to know she was continuing to take charge of her life enjoying every moment.
Updates for my friend began on CaringBridge the week prior to her surgery. Over twenty women gathered for a celebration for her the Friday before the operation. No one knew what to expect since she was told the cancer had spread and organs might be involved. We drank wine with her, toasted her and loved her then went home to hug our loved ones.
Hours after the operation her husband informed us in great detail about the surgery and her prognosis. It was good. He left one message on CaringBridge and everyone on the list received a notification. He did not have to call 200 people. He went to his computer and typed up the news. Done. Family and friends left loving messages and words of support. It’s been 2 ½ months and we are still leaving her notes on this valuable website. We have sent CaringBridge a donation. I hope you do too.

CaringBridge provides an invaluable service– we keep up with my good friend’s daughter’s battle with leukemia, and it provides an outlet for the parents who instead of having to send a hundred emails or phone calls, can post progress through the site. Thank you CaringBridge!

People die to remind us to live.
I procrastinate. I am learning that saying «I love you» can NEVER wait for later and *doing what you say you will do* can only happen here, NOW. Appreciating people as they are — for all that they are and all that they are not — is about being present now. Being. Now.
Celebration was in order after a good friend beat a life-​threatening cancer. Two weeks after returning home, she went to the hospital for a simple check-​up and died of sepsis the next morning. Boom.
We received a phone call at 6 am. We also received an email by 8 am from my friend’s daughter, that her mother had died… just hours beforehand. I could not believe it. Over the course of the next 24 hours, hundreds of notes to the family appeared. It was nothing short of beautiful.
My friend’s daughter had started a CaringBridge site during her mom’s illness. The site allowed us to all be with her during her treatment… people from all over the world could participate in her recovery and then, in an instant, we were all stunned stupid.
CaringBridge allows families to deal with a death or a birth or an ongoing illness or tragedy in a whole new way. Imagine not having to repeat the story of how your mom just died… everyone got that memo. Imagine not having to repeat the status of a life-​threatening illness over and over and over… Imagine not having to repeat the information about your sextuplets and how much each weighs and what color the hair is and how many fingers and toes they all have…
As I read the beautiful notes to the family about the mother, the friend, the artist, the grandmother, the sister… who was my friend, I saw the beauty of what has been created and how it could help so many people who don’t have the luxury to procrastinate.
As a free, 501c3 nonprofit, CaringBridge simplifies the emotionally complicated. They exist on donations, and their website says that over 90% of their funding comes from families who have used their services. I donated because it is a service that fulfills a need and I want to keep it alive for other people who may need it. Hopefully, you will never have to deal with someone dying, a chronic illness, hospice care, rehab, a war injury, someone being born… errr, sooner or later we will all have to deal with something where CaringBridge can help.
The other Unilocalers who have reviewed CaringBridge have all added poignant, succinct information that will add to your understanding of what CaringBridge is and what it can provide for people.
People are just dying to remind us to live.

Rinky hit the nail on the head in her first to review about this wonderful service. Having to witness a loved one go through a serious illness, treatment and hopefully recovery is one of the most difficult things in the world.
A dear friend of mine is currently going through a really horrible battle with a fairly aggressive form of breast cancer. CaringBridge has been her way of letting all friends and family know how she is doing at any given time by keeping an online journal. When I visited her in person last week, it was obvious the side-​effects of her treatment were painful beyond belief. On my drive home, I couldn’t keep my tears back any longer since I felt so powerless in not being able to help her heal or just at least make her feel better in any way possible. She perked up briefly when we discussed certain random subjects, but it’s so hard to keep up a friend’s kindred spirits when they are SO incapacitated.
However, today she wrote a fairly positive CaringBridge journal entry making me sigh with relief (albeit briefly) .She described today as her first day of recovery from a new chemo regimen. She even sarcastically joked a bit that last week her «health & wellbeing were doing a remarkable job of mirroring the American economy.»
CaringBridge has a also created an invaluable resource for patients to not have to repeat the same typical verbal health updates over and over. This has given my friend more time to rest rather then answer many worried phone calls.
Caring Bridge’s founder Sona Mehring deserves the highest of high honors for creating this service.

The people who started
are wonderful souls.
As Rinky said, this site offers free, personalized websites/​blogs for people who have serious injuries and illnesses during their hospitalization. They have journals and guestbooks, and also a section for photos.
A very good friend of mine has been hospitalized since May 28^th, in intensive care following a very horrendous car accident. His family set up a CaringBridge site so that we can all keep updated on his condition and outlook. His family also prints out all the guestbook entries and reads them to him, so that his spirits are uplifted and he knows that his many friends out there are thinking about him and love him.
I donated some money to the site itself in honor of my friend, because I thought it was such an honorable service they were providing to people in need. I am so grateful for CaringBridge, and if you know anyone who could use the site, let them know about it!!!

CaringBridge offers FREE personalized websites that support and connect loved ones during critical illness, treatment and recovery.
You can create a website that is open to everyone or limit it to people you invite who register to access your website.
It is an invaluable way to share your thoughts, your treatment and appointments and other info with people you know. Sometimes it gets quite tedious to have to repeat over and over what is going on with
one’s medical situation.
There is a wide spectrum of how people approach this. One of my favorite sites is by Dale Wolf who went into detail about her cancer journey. It is laced with humor and warmth. After she died, a relative posted a journal entry that said, «Hey, I’m speaking from beyond the grave.» (Words to that effect)
Others have brief journal notes that are just plain and general.
Your website also includes a place to add photos and links of your own. CaringBridge just added a link to the CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL which has tons of useful info and more links.
My friends and I have found it an invaluable way to keep in touch.
They are a non-​profit organization that welcomes donations.