More about the Caring Coins

The Caring Coins started with a dream Salley Gibney had about 20 years ago.

“In that dream, I was holding a wooden coin with an Angel and the message “You are never alone”. The dream was so real that when I woke up, I looked for the coin. Although perplexed by the dream, I realized that the message “You are never alone” is one we all need at one time or another. I asked an artist friend to draw a free style angel and found a man in Vermont who could burn the angel and the message into a wooden coin. It was important that the coin be made if wood and be crafted in Vermont.”

Initially, I shared the Caring Coins randomly with individuals, our troops preparing to go to Iraq, patients in hospitals and then survivors of Hurricane Katrina. The amazing response led to the formation of the You Are Never Alone Foundation (YANAF) in 2007. YANAF was a Vermont 501 (c)(3) non-profit, non-denominational organization founded around the Caring Coins and their messages. It was at that time that I drew the little stick figures sharing a Caring Coin which became YANAF’s logo and a new Caring Coin.

With the help of an amazing, very creative and dedicated Board and many generous volunteers YANAF grew to develop programs for schools, our troops, homeless individuals and families, camps, and volunteer agencies around the world. Over 150,000 Vermont crafted Caring Coins have been shared around the world with people of all ages as a tangible reminder of a caring connection and hope. When Salley’s husband was diagnosed with ALS, YANAF was dissolved with its assets being donated to the Coalition for the Homeless in Bennington, Vermont.

Although YANAF is no longer in existence, Salley and others continue to share the Caring Coins and the I Matter, You Matter cards with the “You are never alone” and “I matter, You matter” messages which are more important than ever!