Why This Matters
The conversation we are here to change.
These are not Maiya's Heart Project's outcomes. These are the realities of organ donation in this country — the why behind everything we're building.
People on the U.S. transplant waiting list
People die each day waiting for an organ
Lives one donor can save
Of those waiting are people of color
Sources: HRSA / OPTN, UNOS. Figures are national U.S. estimates and shift slightly year over year.
The representation gap
The donor list does not reflect the patient list.
Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous Americans are disproportionately likely to need a transplant and disproportionately less likely to receive one in time. The reasons are complex — historical mistrust of medical institutions, a smaller registered donor pool that matches on tissue type, faith-based questions that go unanswered, and a cultural conversation that simply has not been had.
Maiya's Heart Project exists to have that conversation — in churches, on porches, in barber shops, at kitchen tables, on stage, and on screen. Storytelling is the work. Representation is the strategy. A yes is the outcome.
Sharnell's perspective
"When I sat in that hospital, the doctors gave us a list of numbers. What I needed was a list of stories. A list of mothers who had been here. A list of families who said yes. That list didn't exist for us. So I'm building it."
— Sharnell Lydia
What you can do today
The list starts with one yes.
- — Register as an organ donor at DonateLife.net. It takes 90 seconds.
- — Tell one person in your family. Most donations are blocked at the family decision point.
- — Share a story from someone in your community who has lived it.
- — Join our awareness campaigns tied to Donate Life Month, Minority Donor Awareness Month, and CHD Awareness Month.