We've Been on Both Sides of the Door
As caregivers. As care recipients. We kept seeing the same problem.
In the late 1990s, I met Margie. Both of her parents had cancer, and by the time I came into her life, they were already deep in a long health journey. For decades, Margie had walked alongside them. I joined her during the later years.
People showed up for her parents. They brought meals, made visits, offered help — her parents were genuinely cared for. But even with all that love and support, it was harder than it needed to be.
The same questions, repeated
Every conversation started from scratch. Those being cared for exhausted themselves just bringing visitors up to speed.
No thread between visits
One visitor would learn something important — and it stayed with them alone. The next person arrived with no context.
The same few people, every time
Without visibility into who's helping, the burden falls on whoever keeps showing up. Burnout was inevitable.
Afraid to ask again
Those receiving care didn't want to be a burden. They'd rather go without than ask the same person for help twice.
Conversations stayed shallow
Without knowing what someone was really going through, visitors defaulted to small talk. Deeper connection rarely happened.
Practical help, but no deeper care
Meals arrived. Errands got done. But the fears, the grief, the spiritual struggles — those stayed unspoken.
Not because people didn't care —
but because there was no system to carry the story forward.
August 2003
Margie's mother passed away.
Ten days later, her father followed.
Forty days after that, our house burned down
in a California wildfire.
It took 10 years to recover, then...
The flag still flew.
Searching for what remained.
Then in 2014, I was in a motorcycle accident. Doctors gave me a 30% chance to live. Seven surgeries. Two months in the hospital. I had to learn to walk again. I still have permanent nerve damage in my right leg.
This time, we were the ones being cared for. And we experienced the same gaps from the other side. People asking the same questions over and over. Having to relive the story when all we wanted to do was heal. No continuity between visits — every conversation started from zero.
Through it all — as caregivers and as care recipients — we kept seeing the same missing link
No one knew the story
before they knocked.
Years Later
Serving in our church's widow care ministry, I saw it again. Spreadsheets. Workarounds. Good intentions dragged down by scattered information.
I had personal relationships with these widows. I wanted to do better by them.
So I built Acts2Track.
— To give servants the context they need to show up prepared
— To help people advance and overcome, not just repeat and explain
— To ensure that no one slips through the cracks
Know the story before you knock.
So no one slips through the cracks.
— Joe Arnett, Founder
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction..."— James 1:27
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