Tammy Simmons

Founder and Author

For over 20 years, I’ve been teaching parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals how to raise the funds (free money) they need to provide their child with the equipment, products, therapies, and services they need that insurance won’t pay for.

I’ve worked in my family’s bike store, The Bike Rack, for over 25 years as an adaptive bike specialist, helping children with disabilities, doing fittings and evaluations on what bike best meets their special needs. ​I’ve been raising money for decades to support the charitable arm of our bike store, Project Mobility, a nonprofit organization. Through Project Mobility, I’ve been working with families providing adaptive cycling events and giving away adaptive bikes to those with disabilities.

I’m also the author of the disability funding guide, the autism funding guide, and the cancer funding guide. 

In 2019, I formed the nonprofit organization The Funding Project. The idea came to me after a conversation with a mom. I was teaching her how to raise money to make her home fully accessible, and she told me that if she’d been handed my book while her child was in the NICU, it would have changed everything for her family. In that moment, I decided to make that happen. Since then, I’ve worked to teach our lessons on a larger scale by providing our guides to healthcare professionals at hospitals and to disability organizations throughout the country.

The Funding Project

Katherine Reda

Event Director

Katherine is the Event Director for Project Mobility. She has overseen the growth of the organization’s fundraising events since 2016. Katherine oversees multiple signature events each year, as well as smaller fundraising activities and crowdfunding campaigns. She has directed multiple large community fundraisers, leading to thousands of dollars being raised for those with special needs. Prior to assuming her role at Project Mobility, she directed events for a local animal shelter. She has a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management with a concentration in meetings and event management.

Get to know me better: "I love working out! It is one of my biggest passions that started from being an all-star cheerleader the majority of my life and a cheerleading coach for 3-to-8-year-olds. Before I discovered my love for planning events, I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher.

I discovered my love for planning events by working at two different wedding planning companies while in college and shortly after. I should have known that being an event director was meant for me since the earliest memories I have are planning my birthday party six months in advance, planning my dog and cat's wedding, and coordinating a "Little Bunny Foo Foo" play with my cousins. I love everything about event planning, from the initial concept of an event to seeing it through the day. Still, nothing beats the feeling of knowing the event you planned just changed the life of someone in need. I love knowing that what I’m doing is making a difference.

The Funding Project

Melissa Burke

Education Director

Over the past ten years, Melissa has taught kindergarten, first, and second grades, and she worked as a reading specialist for a year too. She’s also worked with Project Mobility since 2002 and edited both the Disability Funding Guide and the Autism Funding Guide.  I always say: “Melissa knows my book backwards and forwards!”

She’s been fundraising for over 17 years and has handled grant writing for Project Mobility and Project Kindle. She’s run three very successful crowdfunding campaigns and overseen large community fundraisers.

Melissa commits much of her time and effort to raising funds to help families acquire adaptive bicycles from Creative Mobility (the adaptive bike department of The Bike Rack).

The Funding Project

Terri

Communications Director

Terri Heimann Oppenheimer is The Funding Project’s Communications Director. Terri describes herself as an “old English major” who found her way back to her first love — writing and editing — after 15 single-mom years spent selling ads to pay for her kids’ college education. With three graduations completed and degrees in Grant, Michael, and Meryl's hands, she went back to the work that made her happiest, and today, she's delighted to partner with The Funding Project and Project Mobility, polishing up their books, press releases, and campaign material to make sure that every word perfectly reflects the organizations' profound missions.

In what free time she has, Terri loves being with Zach, her best friend and husband, enjoying their kids and grandkids, traveling, and entertaining their cat, Chloe.​

The Funding Project

Jenny McCormick

Director of Marketing and Social Media

Jenny McCormick is a proud micro-preemie mom and advocate for the preemie community and underserved NICU populations. Jenny works with various preemie nonprofit organizations and has been featured in parenting magazines and medical journals in this space. The Funding Project is proud to have Jenny on the team!

The Funding Project

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