About the Founder
I'm Shiva Sambandam, an 8th grader at Lake Highland Preparatory School, and I founded Lift Life to empower caregivers in Central Florida by connecting them with essential resources.
My family's experience caring for my quadriplegic aunt has shown me how challenging and lonely caregiving can be. Through the Lift Life podcast, I wish to bridge this gap by interviewing local experts, caregivers, and community leaders. By sharing stories and highlighting available support, my goal is to provide valuable insights and practical advice to help caregivers thrive, not just survive.
In 2023, as part of a congressional app challenge, I created a prototype of an app for families with disabilities to use in their day-to-day lives to connect with other caregivers, identify resources in the community, and function as a medical equipment bank where caregivers can rent medical devices as a way to decrease costs and address this issue of scarcity in the community. I won the congressional app challenge in 2023.
About Lift Life
Caring for a loved one with a disability is a journey filled with dedication, love, and resilience—but it can also be overwhelming and isolating. Lift Life was founded to change that.
Born from my personal experience caring for my quadriplegic aunt, Lift Life is an initiative designed to empower and support caregivers in Central Florida. Many families struggle to find the right resources, feeling lost in a maze of medical, financial, and emotional challenges. I saw firsthand how difficult it was to navigate this path, and I wanted to create a bridge to the support that caregivers need.
Through workshops, podcasts, and caregiver tools, Lift Life connects caregivers with local experts, nonprofits, and community leaders, offering valuable insights, practical advice, and real-life experiences. Our goal is to ensure that caregivers are not just surviving but thriving—feeling informed, supported, and connected.
At Lift Life, we believe that no caregiver should feel alone. Whether through interactive workshops, the Lift Life Podcast, or our custom caregiver toolkits, we provide guidance, encouragement, and access to vital resources.
Mission: To empower and support caregivers by connecting them with essential resources in Central Florida.
Vision: A world where every caregiver feels seen, supported, and equipped to handle the challenges of caregiving with confidence.
Join us on this journey—because when caregivers are supported, lives are transformed.
Congressional App Challenge Winner 2023 District 11
The Congressional App Challenge is an initiative conducted by the US House of Representatives to stimulate interest in middle and high school students in coding and computer science.
Rep. Webster has named Shiva Sambandam, a seventh grader at Lake Highland Preparatory School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s 11th District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Lift Life, the student said, “I have a personal connection to living with a disability. My disabled aunt who had a brain injury and now has speech problems and quadriplegia lives in Port Charlotte, Florida. She requires full physical support for mobility, feeding, and 24-hour caretaker support. There are times when there are limited support helpers and my family does it on their own. My family tries to find creative solutions and do their best to help my aunt with her needs by sourcing resources from caretaker support to handicap equipment. We are always trying to find resources to help her make it through her days. I realize there are a lot of people in the same boat in varying degrees and are looking for help whether it be mobility aids, hygiene devices, or patient/caretaker support. This unmet need is what led me to make this app with the company, Lift Disability.”
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