Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christopher MacLellan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Christopher, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I got my care gene from my four older sisters. I watched how they loved and cared for their children, and it was the model I used when caring for my partner Richard when he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2011. Most of my professional career had always been surrounded by some form of care, whether social service or nonordained ministry. However, while caring for my partner, I discovered the world of blogging and podcasting as a way to share stories and resources and find comfort while during care while supporting those who are in care. It is from my personal caregiving experience that I found my purpose to bring trusted information and referrals to caregivers seeking the information they need while maneuvering the complex health care, legal, and social service system that is often foreign to a caregiver until their in the middle of an unplanned care experience that usually happens become of an unfortunate accident or an untimely diagnosis where SUDDENLY, your thrust into an unfamiliar role of managing someone’s care, without knowing the landscape that is involved in care.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
When people ask me, “Why did you create the Whole Care Network? “I always return to our caregiving experience and how fortunate I was to find resources that helped my partner Richard Schiffer and me manage our caregiving journey. Every caregiver has a story; through our stories, we find validation, resources, and respite to help manage our caregiving day.
We were fortunate to have our story chronicled in a 2015 Pulitzer Prize-nominated 3-part story, “In Sickness and In Health: A Couple’s Final Journey,” which told our journey of caregiving. The story told of the challenges LGBT partners have in dealing with the medical and legal system, but it also told of the love and joy my partner Richard’s last years had on our relationship.
Since it was published in April 2014, our story has been read by over 500,000 people worldwide. One of the reasons our story was so successful was that readers could place themselves in our shoes, dealing with the health care and legal systems, balancing work and life while facing the reality that our time together was short. It was an afterthought that the story just happened to be about two men.
When it comes to caregiving, there are no economic boundaries, racial boundaries, gender boundaries, or orientation boundaries. Caregiving impacts everyone, and it is through story-sharing that diversity meets the road to collaboration on a common cause. Our common reason is to support caregivers before, during, and after caregiving has ended.
Creating the Whole Care Network has been my way of giving back to the Caregiving community, who allowed us to share our story, bringing comfort and joy to Richard and me while establishing life-long friendships through our caregiving journey.
The Whole Care Network is based on my experience as a working family caregiver and the passion I gained through advocacy and collaboration before, during, and after caregiving. Along the way, I also learned that the best information and referrals are usually from one caregiver to another, which took me back to my roots as a director of an information and referral service hotline in St. Louis.
In a crisis, people need a trusted voice, a validated service, and a soothing story to hear. That is what we aim to provide at the Whole Care Network.
For years, the heart of The Whole Care Network was bringing valuable information to family caregivers with shared stories through podcasting. The focus was easy-to-consume media for family caregivers everywhere, organized within 4 Pillars of Care.
My New Project > My Green Folder Film.
My last act of caregiving for my partner Richard is to take our story to film.
“My Green Folder” is a feature film based on a true story of Richard Schiffer’s and Chris MacLellan’s life experiences as a same-sex couple navigating the American health care and legal system before marriage equality became law. Richard and Chris had been partners for eight years when, in 2011, Richard was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which propelled Chris into end-of-life care for his long-term partner.
“My Green Folder” is far from being simply an LGBT story or an ‘illness story,’ this script reveals the devotion between persons of the same gender and enduring adoration between people of different generations, spiritual beliefs, educations, and backgrounds.
In its true essence, “My Green Folder” is a love story. The macro factors of society, prejudices, and injustice lend to the added features of dealing with these factors before marriage equality became law. Given our current political and societal environment, Richard and Chris’ story resonates even more today.
When opposites attract, a gay couple’s May-December romance proves to be just what was missing in both their lives and then shows the importance of family – and being someone’s one and only – until one of them is diagnosed with a fatal illness and the struggle of caring for each other is exacerbated by the challenges society puts on them as a gay couple – based on a true story: My Green Folder. mygreenfolderfilm.com
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My passion centers around advocacy in all that I do. When we are entrusted to the care of others, there is no better honor. Leaders do not seek responsibility; they are drawn to it when they realize how their talents, skills, and abilities can make a difference.
Here are some of my philosophies…it all comes back to treating people with dignity and respect!
*The courage to put oneself at risk
*See the possibilities in a situation rather than the limitations
*Treat everyone as equal and with dignity
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
As my last act of caregiving for my partner, Richard, I have been attempting to get our story in front of decision-makers in the entertainment industry. It’s been difficult. I’m embarking on a campaign to get 100,000 testimonials on why the My Green Folder film project should be taken to production.
The entire story is at www.mygreenfolderfilm.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wholecarenetwork.com
- Other: www.mygreenfoderflim.com
