Our Story

Hi, my name is Cathy Heshmat and I am the founder and president of Brit’s Gift, a charity named in memory of my 25 yr old son Britton that I lost to addiction just before Christmas of 2019.

Our mission is to minimize the financial barrier between loved ones and treatment.

Britton’s downward spiral all started around 2016 while I was in the midst of cancer treatment. Britton had just graduated college Summa Cum Laude and had been accepted into a 2 yr dual masters program. Before returning to college, he needed to have his wisdom teeth pulled. This was a minor surgery with extremely potent pain meds that he could never shake. Those pain meds took him down a path of destruction and led to his death a short 2.5 yrs later.

They say every single person knows an addict, you just might not know which person in your world it is yet.

My experience of having nowhere to turn in a time of crisis led my heart to help others have a place to call. When your child or loved one needs help immediately, who do you call, how do you find a bed, how do you get the funds to keep your human alive , with rehabs costing $30-50k a month? How quickly can one get past the hurdles?

You see when an addict says they want help, you have VERY little time to act and get them into a safe place before they turn back to their drug. For some Sobering up can be deadly. How are families supposed to know which route to take?

Although we are not medically licensed, we are a group of family members who have lost loved ones, are currently dealing with a loved one in addiction and/or have dealt with an addiction and found success with recovery. We have negotiated intake rates for numerous detox facilities and know exactly who to call to start the hunt for a bed. We provide the cash funds when possible to get a person into detox with or without insurance, and we have been able to establish who has beds that can be given under a scholarship and who is offering insurance plans to addicts needing rehab. Since starting the charity in late 2021 we have since put over a dozen people into detox. A majority are still sober today. Our only limitation is funding as we are new. Saying no is the difference between life and death.

My personal mission is to make sure that at least one other mama out there does not become me. I want to give their loved one 1 more day, one more chance at a whole new life. I would give anything to go back and have another chance with my son.

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