Why we built Red Ember

Alyssa holds both a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Social Work. She has helped patients and families understand cancer diagnoses, explore treatment options, find resources, fight with insurance companies, and prepare for difficult decisions. She has also conducted research, published books and articles, presented at conferences, and taught future professionals about cancer and its effects on families.

But professional knowledge doesn’t remove the personal challenges of caregiving.

When Alyssa’s mother-in-law developed a rare cancer, Alyssa became one of her primary caregivers. Because of her background in oncology, she attended medical appointments, took notes, translated complicated medical language, advocated for her mother-in-law’s wishes, and helped coordinate palliative and hospice care. She experienced the uncertainty of waiting for answers and the emotional strain of trying to make good decisions for someone she loved.

She’s also experienced the demands of parenting children whose needs require advocacy across different systems. Healthcare providers, mental health professionals, schools, and service agencies each have their own processes, paperwork, expectations, and ways of communicating. Keeping track of all those moving pieces takes time, energy, persistence, and a lot of mental space.

Alyssa saw how easy it was for important information to become scattered and for the responsibility of following up to fall on one person. The caregiver often becomes the person who remembers the medication change, finds the missing document, follows up on the unanswered email, prepares for the next meeting, and keeps everyone informed. Even when other people want to help, sharing the workload is difficult when no one has a clear picture of what needs to happen.

Those experiences shaped Alyssa’s work with her co-founder, Andy, to create Red Ember. They wanted to build something grounded in the real lives of caregivers. Red Ember brings care information, tasks, documents, appointments, and communication records together, helping families organize responsibilities and keep track of next steps.

For Alyssa, Red Ember is rooted in a simple belief: families shouldn’t have to hold every detail in their heads to provide good care. They deserve tools that make complicated responsibilities easier to manage and help them feel more prepared when the next challenge comes along.

Her goal is to help caregivers spend less time chasing information and keeping track of everything, and more time doing what matters to them. She wants families to feel supported in the work they do every day, including the countless tasks no one else sees.