Statement of Kelly R. Leight, Executive Director and founder of CARES Foundation, Inc.:
When my 7 year old child was diagnosed with non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia in February of 2000, I was worried, shocked and upset. I wanted support, and I wanted information. Naturally, I went to the internet to find answers. I was surprised to find that there was no organization specifically dedicated to CAH or much in the way of support for families going through the difficulties in dealing with and understanding this disorder. Some information was out there if you searched hard enough, but there was no centralized resource. I wanted to create a centralized source of information on the web as well as provide support services to the CAH community.
At the same time, I became aware of how little the non-endocrine medical community knew about non-classical CAH, which is very common, especially in certain ethnic groups, or classical CAH. I became concerned about a trend that recently began to characterize symptoms of early puberty, often the first sign of non-classical CAH in children, as normal or benign. If further tests were not conducted on my daughter and a referral made to a pediatric endocrinologist, my daughter would have gone undiagnosed and suffered irreparable harm. I wanted to help publicize the danger in promoting this myth of early puberty, as well as educate the public, the ethnic groups most affected, and the medical community about the signs, symptoms and genetic frequency of non-classical CAH.
I also learned of the life-saving benefits of newborn screening for CAH. At the time, I was surprised to find that my own state, New Jersey, did not screen for CAH at birth, but many others did. I went on a quest to get the state to add CAH to its screening program in addition to bringing its newborn screening services to include all other diseases that can be screened for at birth. The effort paid off, and now New Jersey mandates newborn screening for more disorders than any other state in the U.S. I hope to encourage other parents and affected individuals to get involved in newborn screening advocacy.
So, these were my motivations for starting CARES Foundation, Inc. and my some of goals and objectives for the organization. But, I need help from the CAH community. Please spread the word about CARES Foundation to your friends, family and physicians.Please send a tax deductible donation, if it is within your means, and/or consider volunteering to assist us in achieving our goals and implementing our programs.

CARES Foundation, Inc. is also very fortunate to have Dr. Maria New as its medical advisor. She performs an invaluable service in this role for CARES Foundation. For more information on Dr. Maria New, click here.

Kelly R. Leight, Executive Director
CARES Foundation, Inc.
(Congenital Adrenal hyperplasia Research, Education and Support)