‘Now I can use my strengths and energy to help others and pay it forward’
Aid recipient: Actor Teal Jandrain is a Fort Collins native who has has been acting since childhood. She got her start at the educational Debut Theatre Company, and has been a company member with OpenStage Theatre Company for two decades. Her credits there include The Most Massive Woman Wins, Moon Over Buffalo, The Rocky Horror Show, Bullshot Crummond, The Ultimate Beauty Bible and recently she played Abigail in The Crucible and starred as Mae in Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, a character she describes as “a spitfire with a velvet soul.” Across town, Teal’s Bas Bleu Theatre credits have included playing Susie in Wait Until Dark and Jill in Equus. Teal studied at the AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Hollywood.
Her medical story: Teal had to have her gallbladder removed last year after a harrowing run of The Crucible, “and let’s just say portraying Abigail’s misery required little pretending,” she said. Then in November, during OpenStage’s Frankenstein, doctors discovered a large endometrioma growing on her ovary. “They ended up having to remove the whole right ovary and fallopian tube, and also found severe endometriosis, which is a source of ongoing pain,” she said. Teal missed six weeks of work at Snooze while recovering from the second surgery. The combination of these two major medical crises in the same year has left Teal struggling mightily to catch up with her living expenses, a situation exacerbated by the financial responsibility she has assumed in caring for her mother.
How we have helped: The Denver Actors Fund board has unanimously voted to provide Teal with $4,195.03 to help cover essential living expenses while she was recovering from surgery, and pay off an outstanding $695.03 bill from the Fort Collins Surgery Center.
How you can help us help Teal more: If you would like to direct a specific donation to help Teal further, simply mail checks in any amount made out to Denver Actors Fund (with Teal Jandrain’s name written in the topic field), to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO 80212. Or use this donation link. If you use the online option, be sure to designate that your donation is a targeted donation for Teal Jandrain. (She will receive 100 percent of your donation.) Otherwise, your donation will be applied to the replenishment of the Denver Actors Fund’s general fund.
A message from Teal: “I’ve been lucky enough to stay active in the Fort Collins theatre community for more than 20 years. Between Debut Theatre, Bas Bleu and Openstage, I’ve had the unique privilege of zipping into the souls of more than 40 fascinating and varied characters. I’ve also chased my silver-screen dreams in Hollywood on and off since high school, mostly paving my own way to Tinseltown. I put my dreams on hold back in 2012 when my mom lost the retail business she’d run for 35 years. I got a waitress job, made the most of the cliché with some quality actor/server jokes and managed to save my family home from foreclosure. Continuing to pursue theatre, though not financially lucrative, was both my escape and my saving grace during these struggles. Throughout the last several years, however, some serious health issues have set me back with work and creativity. This assistance from The Denver Actors Fund means more to me than I, a great lover of words, can possibly articulate. The heavy weight I felt after missing more than a month of work has been significantly lightened. I am forever grateful and can’t wait to tell more people about this amazing organization. Our passions often become clouded by our obligations. Now I can breathe easier and focus more on the art that feeds me and keeps me thriving through every plot twist. Since this burden has been eased, I also feel newly inspired to start a support group for women with endometriosis. I believe in the power of bringing people together to heal, and now I can use my strengths and energy to help others and pay it forward.”
The Denver Actors Fund has now made more than $333,000 available to Colorado artists in medical need.
How you can help us help us replenish: If you would like to help us replenish by donating to the Denver Actors Fund, simply mail checks in any amount made out to Denver Actors Fund to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO 80212. Or use this donation link, with our humble thanks.
Read testimonials from other Denver Actors Fund beneficiaries here
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.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US REPLENISH:
To DONATE to the Denver Actors Fund, please CLICK HERE (with our humble thanks)
ABOUT THE DENVER ACTORS FUND:
The Denver Actors Fund is a modest source of immediate, situational relief when members of the local theater community find themselves in medical need. In addition to $326,000 in financial relief, a team of more than 60 Denver Actors Fund volunteers have offered good neighborly assistance to more than 100 beneficiaries 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 80212
VOLUNTEER:
Ever thought about taking a more active role in the Denver Actors Fund? Click here for more information
COME TO OUR EVENTS:
Friends, we at The Denver Actors Fund believe in building community while building funds. Most of our events are performative in nature so that you have a good time while helping a good cause. Here are some of the events that are currently being planned on our behalf. Visit denveractorsfund.org for the ever-channging lineup!
VISIT OUR ONLINE MERCH STORE:
Click here to see how you can buy DAF products such as T-shirts, key chains, puzzles and much more
