Blessings of childbirth have come with medical hardships for Mark and Shauna Shonsey, but the DAF has been there to help with the bills
Financial-aid recipient: Funnyman Mark Shonsey has been an an actor in the Denver theatre and improv-comedy communities since 2003. The graduate of John F. Kennedy High School and the University of Colorado Denver played Nicky in the Town Hall Arts Center’s production of Avenue Q in 2017. That’s a role he first played in Vintage Theatre’s four-star regional premiere in 2011. In 2013, he volunteered his services for Magic Moments, an annual musical revue that features able-bodied and special-needs performers performing side by side. Two of his biggest successes came in 2014, when he played Igor in Vintage Theatre’s Young Frankenstein and Moonface Martin in Town Hall’s Anything Goes. He has also performed for Equinox Theatre Company (A Night at Fawlty Towers), among others.
Their initial medical story: Mark and Shauna Shonsey welcomed their first child, Lillian Joy, back in 2017, delivered prematurely by emergency C-Section. Lilly was rushed to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where doctors discovered she had inhaled Meconium into her lungs, so she was intubated to help her breathing. Lillian was able to come home after about a week in the NICU, and remained on supplemental oxygen for three months. She then needed regular visits to specialists and had two trips to the emergency room. She finally was able to come off oxygen several months later, but her parents watched the bills pile up throughout their ordeal. All told, the Shonseys accumulated more than $4,500 in post-insurance medical bills.
How we first helped: The Denver Actors Fund board approved a grant of $4,000 to help provide the Shonsey family some time and breathing room while they got back on their financial feet.
A second blessing: The Shonseys recently welcomed their second child, a boy named Cullen, who was soon diagnosed with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). The condition affected his breathing, necessitating a five-day stay in another NICU. He was placed on a high-flow oxygen machine and given a feeding tube because he could not breathe or eat on his own. Cullen is recovering well. But the couple was left with a variety of new post-insurance medical bills totaling $3,369.15. The Denver Actors Fund paid all of it. Combined with $95 in targeted donations from the community, the Denver Actors Fund has now made $7,464.15 in medical assistance available to the Shonsey family.
A message from Mark Shonsey: “The Shonsey family cannot thank the Denver Actors Fund enough. The arrival of Lillian Joy in 2017 was such a blessing in our lives. Things unfortunately didn’t go as planned throughout the entire pregnancy, and that put us into financial trouble. But the Denver Actors Fund was there to save us, and that released a lot of the financial burden off our shoulders. They worked so fast, and they made it so stress-free to help us.
“The DAF came to our rescue again in helping with the week-long hospital stay for our baby boy, Cullen. As a longtime member of the Denver theatre community, I have seen actors struggle with life’s expenses for so many years. The Colorado theatre community is truly one of the best in terms of both talent and their unyielding support for each other. This group has graced so many people with funds, peace of mind and love ever since 2013. If you know me, you know I am the constant funnyman, always trying to make people laugh. I have lived my life off of a mantra that the great Red Skelton would say after every performance: ‘If by chance someday you’re not feeling well and you should remember some silly little thing I’ve said or done, and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled.’ The Denver Actors Fund has truly brought smiles to everyone in my family’s faces. I will never forget what you have done for us. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all!”
How you can help us replenish: If you would like to help The Denver Actors Fund to replenish, simply mail checks made out to The Denver Actors Fund to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO, 80212. Or use this donation link. Your donation will be applied to the replenishment of the Denver Actors Fund’s general fund.
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Note: At the Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have his or her story told.
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ABOUT THE DENVER ACTORS FUND:
Video above: The Denver Actors Fund receives the Colorado Theatre Guild’s 2016 Community Impact Award.
The Denver Actors Fund is a modest source of immediate, situational relief when members of the local theater community find themselves in medical need. To date, the Fund has allocated more than $900,000 to artists facing medical need. In addition to financial relief, a team of more than 100 Denver Actors Fund volunteers offers good neighborly assistance including meal prep and delivery, child care, transportation, errands, construction, pet-sitting and more. For more information, visit our web site at DenverActorsFund.Org.
HOW TO APPLY FOR AID:
To apply for Denver Actors Fund aid: Fill out this brief online form here
MORE WAYS TO HELP:
DONATE BY MAIL:
Send checks made out to the Denver Actors Fund to:
P.O. Box 11182
Denver, CO 80211
SUPPORT THE EVENTS THAT SUPPORT US:
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14: Our friends at Town Hall Arts Center are continuing on their incredible promise to designate one performance per run with 100 percent of all proceeds from ticket and concession sales to be donated to The Denver Actors Fund. Spend your Valentine’s Night with your sweetie at one (or two or three, depending on your perspective) of the best and bloodiest Broadway love stories of all time, “Little Shop of Horrors.” Town Hall is hosting a love-themed costume contest that night. Come dressed as your favorite couple from musical theatre and you will win two complimentary tickets to any upcoming Town Hall production – and receive two complimentary drink coupons. Come at 6 p.m. for drinks, walk the red carpet and play in the photo booth. The audience will choose the winning costume. Tickets only $25. Tickets -–> 303-794-2787 or townhallartscenter.org.
- Directed by Bob Wells
- Music Direction by Donna K Debreceni
- Choreography by Kelly Kates
- Production Stage Manager: Emily McIntyre
CAST:
- Carter Edward Smith as Seymour
- Abby McInerney as Audrey
- Preston Adams as Audrey II
- Charlie Schmidt as Orin
- Jim Hitzke as Mr. Mushnik
- Anna Maria High as Crystal
- Faith Goins as Ronnette
- Rajdulari as Chiffon
- Understudy: Aaron Szindler
MUSICIANS:
- Donna K Debreceni: Piano
- Scott Alan Smith: Guitar
- Larry Ziehl: Percussion
ONGOING: “Quarantine Week by Weak” is a new photographic coffee-table book by Susannah McLeod and her wife, Chloe McLeod, who chronicled their home life during the COVID19 shutdown with a light-hearteded photo series documenting their lives during quarantine. They produced more than 35 sets of humorous photos comparing the beginning of quarantine to later in the “stay-at-home” period. Susannah pulled out her camera and we started to play,” said Chloe McLeod. As popularity for the series grew on Instagram and after a feature in Westword, the couple started exploring options to publish the series as a book to benefit The Denver Actors Fund. To order, visit http://mcleod9creative.com/shop/quarantine-week-by-weak-photo-book. This project is generously sponsored by: The Albritton Family; Natalie Bowen and Jim Corbett; Dave Dyer; Julie Dyer; and Denise Gentilini and Lynette Prisner. Additional support provided by Angie Flachman and Sandy Birkey at The Publishing House and Sandra Lee Stuart.
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