Elizabeth Gardner has an important story to tell.

Over the past several years, the 1999 Butte High graduate has gone through hell and back. On May 5, 2019, she lost her daughter, Bridget Mallo, to cystic fibrosis. She was only 15.

After a bout with depression following her daughter’s passing, Elizabeth nearly died from COVID. In fact, she was expected to die. She said was sent home with instructions to call for Hospice care.

She never made that call.

Today, Elizabeth is still battling. She said she needs a lung transplant, and she gets by with help from an oxygen tank.

Elizabeth, though, is not just fighting for herself. She is working with the Southwest Montana Community Coalition for Pregnant and Parenting People with a Substance Use Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder along with theC.A.R.E. committee to bring awareness to the homeless problem in Butte.

The CARE Committee is made up of various organizations and individuals, including people who have experienced homelessness themselves.

CARE stands for Compassion, Action, Resources and Education.

Elizabeth stands for all of those, too. She has some big plans and a story to tell. It is a very important story, to say the least.