Hi, I am Mckayla, the founder of The Faith and Grace Foundation for Recovery and Kindness, dedicated to my dad, the man, the legend himself, Edmond A. Medina. Edmond passed away on Aug 4th, 2023, from cirrhosis. Edmond had an extreme love and passion for brewing beer and was influential in the beer community across the world. This hobby brought him so much happiness but also ended up making him sick, and he eventually passed on.  It was one of his lifelong dreams to open a brewery called Faith Grace Brewery, “made with a little bit of faith and a whole lot of grace.” Which is where the name for this foundation came from. Faith is my sister Hannah's middle name, and Grace is my middle name. The blue butterfly logo represents my father. 

 

 

 

My dad was born in LA to his immigrant parents from Mexico on April 2, 1971. Growing up in LA, he became a huge Dodgers fan and a beer-loving man. My dad was born to be a dad. He was everything a little girl wanted in a dad. He had 5 children who he completely loved and cared for, and we were the center of his whole world. My dad worked full time but also was heavily involved in our lives. He took each kid to every sport practice, every practice game, and every game. He showed up on every school field trip and every award ceremony. He took us to doctors, friends' houses, and every other hobby we wanted to do. My dad cooked a meal every night and made sure we were always together. My dad had an extreme passion for beer, with going to breweries around the world, helping others with their breweries, and even completely having his own brewery in our garage. A perfect day for my dad was his laptop in the garage, sipping on a cold beer and creating a beer from scratch with chili on the stove and a Dodgers game in the background. 

 

 

 

In 2020 everything changed when my dad was diagnosed with cirrhosis, which meant he couldn't do his passion anymore. My dad had to give up his dreams and passion when it came to the beer community; my dad had to be sober and work on his health. In the summer of 2020, he fell into a month-and-a-half coma due to internal bleeding from cirrhosis. This would start a 3-year battle with lots of doctor visits, feeling tired all the time, being on a strict diet, and hoping for a liver transplant but always not being sick enough or being too sick to survive. This was a battle that stole my dad's happiness and quality of life andt hen eventually took his life, which left his family absolutely devastated. 

 

 

 

Cirrhosis:

 

Cirrhosis is when you have severe liver damage or a final stage that, most of the time, is permanent, irreversible damage. 

 

The main cause is fatty liver disease or alcohol abuse. Other causes are hepatitis and autoimmune disease. Cirrhosis usually does not show symptoms in the beginning, only when it reaches the final stages. To help fix cirrhosis, it would be hepatitis medicine, cutting out alcohol, eating a low-sodium diet, and, for severe cases, liver transplant. Once you start scarring your liver, it is hard to reverse those effects. To read more, visit https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cirrhosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351487.

 

 

 

 

Why this foundation?

 

 

 

My dad always taught us to be good people, to be helpful, and to always be happy. This was his motto for his children. He didn't care what crazy dream we had or where we ended up in the world. All he cared for was that we would go for our dream, put in work, and go anywhere our heart desires as long as we were happy and kind. When my dad passed away, I knew I wanted to create this foundation to help others and show kindness in a time when kindness is slowly fading. This foundation will offer resources for alcohol recovery, grief stories, and ways to help heal. It will help children who were affected by the loss of a parent and kids affected by alcohol addiction. As the foundation grows, it will offer more and more resources to communities across the country. I am so excited to begin this journey with this foundation and help spread education and kindness as well as resources around the country to promote healing and happiness.

 

 

 

To my dad

 

Dad, every day I and your family miss you. I promise to always lead with kindness in my heart and to think of you every step. I truly miss you and love you.