By Heather Leonard
Lisa Sperl spends a lot of time on the road between her home near Lake City and Gunnison. When the Gunnison Watershed School District resumes on Aug. 20, she’ll be up by 5 a.m. so she can be at the Lake School in Gunnison by 7:45 a.m., where she works as a floater teacher moving between the preschool and kindergarten classrooms. Some weeks she’s also at the assisted living facility, serving meals to residents. And every other week, without fail, she’s on the road from Lake City to Gunnison to receive cancer treatment through Gunnison Valley Health. It’s a trip that takes an hour and a half each way and can leave her drained.
Until Monday, all of that rested on an aging and increasingly unreliable Jeep Liberty with too many miles and tires that kept going flat. But on Monday, Sperl got a call from Living Journeys Program Manager Avery Forsythe that changed everything.
“Ms. Avery called me and said, ‘Lisa, somebody’s donating a car, and it’s perfect timing — we’re going to give it to you,’” Sperl recalled. “I said, what are you saying? What do you want me to do? I thought, in America, there’s no such thing as free.”
The car, a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder with brand-new tires and roughly 90,000 miles, came from a couple who own a second home in the valley and who wish to remain anonymous. They kept the car here for visits but had recently bought a newer vehicle. Rather than sell the old one, they called Living Journeys, a nonprofit they’ve supported over the years, and asked her if she knew anyone in need of a vehicle.
“They just wanted to do something good with the older car and give it to someone who could use it and who needed it, rather than trying to sell it or trade it in,” said Forsythe. Second homeowners, she added, are quietly among the organization’s most reliable supporters. “They really are some of our biggest supporters, if not our biggest supporters.”
Sperl’s car had been breaking down for months. Living Journeys and Gunnison Tough had brought Sperl’s car to Earl O’Hagan, owner of Skyhigh Offroad, but he’d deemed it unfixable.
“We had someone who really needed a car, and we had someone who had an extra car,” Forsythe said. “It just was kind of divine timing.”
She said Living Journeys doesn’t typically provide vehicles — that’s usually the role of Gunnison Tough, which owns a small fleet clients can use for free to reach treatment. This donation wasn’t quite at that standard, she said, “but it was still in amazing condition. It’s been really well taken care of.”
For Sperl, a 27-year resident of Lake City who was diagnosed with breast cancer in February, the timing mattered. She’s completed 13 of 16 planned chemotherapy infusions, with her final three scheduled for Aug. 14, Aug. 28 and Sept. 14, followed by surgery in Montrose.
“I never get anything big and valuable like this in my life,” she said. “I still couldn’t believe it until I saw it sitting in my parking lot.”
As Living Journeys is based out of Crested Butte and Gunnison Tough out of Gunnison, there’s often an assumption in the community that Living Journeys only supports patients who live in Crested Butte and Gunnison Tough patients who live in Gunnison. In fact, both organizations serve all of Gunnison County, as well as anyone receiving oncology care through Gunnison Valley Health (GVH.)
“Lisa lives in Lake City, which is Hinsdale County, but she’s getting all of her oncology care at GVH,” said Forsythe. “She still falls under our umbrella of mission and support.”
Though it’s over an hour away from Sperl’s home, GVH is the closest hospital offering oncology care. Living Journeys’ reach extends to anyone receiving care at GVH, regardless of which county they call home.
Living Journeys and Gunnison Tough, though separate nonprofits, often work together to offer support to the community. Forsythe meets frequently with Gunnison Tough’s director, Lana Athey, and GVH’s Oncology Nurse Navigator, Tricia Alleman, to talk through what patients need and how they can collectively provide the support patients need.
“We figure out how our services can really provide full wraparound support, between what the hospital can do, what Gunnison Tough can do, and what Living Journeys can do,” said Forsythe.
Gunnison Tough, for example, has funding available on a rolling basis, along with a fleet of vehicles available for transportation. At the same time, Living Journeys runs a quarterly grant program — up to $5,000 per application, with $40,000 distributed last quarter alone — along with meal delivery, private therapy and support groups.
“It’s a nice mix,” Forsythe said. “If people are in crisis in the middle of a quarter, they can turn to Gunnison Tough until our grant cycle rolls around.”
“We try to provide holistic and comprehensive support to people in Gunnison County with cancer,” she said. “If they need something, we try to figure out a way to make it happen.”
For Sperl, the car is more than just about transportation. Her diagnosis comes just two years after her husband passed away in 2024, after a six-month battle with lymphoma.
“Still, I miss my husband,” she said. The two of them used to go camping together every summer. “This car will not only help me for my appointments, but also for my work, and for camping — because I love camping, and my husband is not here.”
She wants to be sure the donors know how deep her gratitude for the car runs.
“I look at you guys as God’s instrument to help me, and I am humbled enough to say thank you so much,” she said. “I received your blessing, and I’m using it wisely.”
And for Sperl, it’s not just about the practical relief. Sure, she’ll no longer have to worry about breaking down on the drive to chemo, or missing a shift because her car wouldn’t start.
“This car is really, really a big help for me, because I feel like I don’t have to worry about being stranded in the middle of the road,” she said.
But it also means that she can continue to give back to the community she loves, whether it’s teaching children, working at the assisted living facility, or cleaning her church.
“It means I can be counted on to show up for work on time. It’s not just helping me. It’s helping me help other people.”
She’s also planning what comes next. She’ll use the Pathfinder for her school commute this fall, for her remaining chemo appointments, and for that long-delayed camping trip before classes start. But eventually, she said, she wants to pass the car along to someone else.
“I will make sure this car is maintained, clean, and I will use it — as long as I can,” Sperl said. “There’s always somebody else out there who needs help, like me.”
