About Us

Our Story

Mike and Michelle Clark met in college and were married in June of 2001. In 2006, they were blessed with two lovely girls, Reese, and Rylee on December 5, 2006. From the time Rylee was born, she was instrumental in their lives. A special little girl whose journey was filled with purpose and meaningful change. Let us share our story…

About Our Precious Rylee Grace

Rylee was your typical kid growing up. She played soccer and softball and loved to travel to Lake Tahoe and Hawaii. Rylee loved the beach and the mountains. She had a special bond with nature and was always at peace within her element. Rylee loved everything about Disneyland. Her face would light up every time the word Disneyland was spoken. She loved watching Disney movies and the Impractical Jokers. Rylee was a fun-loving and free-spirited kid. She never got angry with another kid, and we never heard her say anything negative about another person.

Rylee just wanted to be everyone’s friend and share love and joy with all. She lived her life in a way that most people wish could live part of the time. She was instrumental in school. She impacted the lives of many other kids. She had the opportunity to change school procedures with a large school district. Her teachers loved her as a student. She brought great joy and laughter to the classroom. She was instrumental in change. Rylee fought for student rights and made a huge impact in changing the course and definition of inclusion with students in one large district.

In 2019, Rylee began equestrian and barrel racing, training with her horse Three. She was exposed to the Cody Rodeo on a family trip to Cody, WY, in July of 2019 and fell in love with the sport. Rylee was a natural on the horse. She and Three had a special bond and connection. Rylee was doing so well with her training and skills until November 2020, when she was diagnosed.

On November 17, 2020, doctors at Sutter Hospital found a tumor the size of a tennis ball in her brain. Within 48 hours, Rylee was in emergency surgery for 5 1/2 hours. She was in ICU for six weeks and was ultimately flown to Rady’s Children’s Hospital in San Diego for Proton Radiation and Chemotherapy treatments.

For two months, Rylee endured a regiment of radiation and chemo that took a tremendous toll. Due to the intensity of the treatments, Rylee lost her ability to speak on January 19, 2021. We returned home for a short break for recovery as Rylee prepared for six rounds of inpatient chemotherapy treatments.

In her first round of chemotherapy, Rylee was placed in the ICU with kidney failure and was provided 19 blood transfusions in the first 30- days of monitoring. She developed PTSD and was not responding favorably to the treatments. After careful thought and consideration, we decided to stop the chemotherapy, and we are glad we did as a year later, in July of 2022, we discovered the cancer metastasized in her blood, and doctors found a tumor the size of a baseball on her left hip and cancer present in her pelvic lymph nodes. Rylee was deemed terminal…

From August until June 27, 2023, when she passed away, our family remained strong and shared every moment we could with Rylee. Rylee refused to quit and continued to battle until the end. Her love for life had been stripped away from her, but we knew she would soon be in a better place.

As a testament to Rylee’s strength, character, and amazing will, our family created the Rylee Grace Foundation in her honor to help and support families who have been impacted by pediatric cancer diseases. Our mission will be to support families the best we can with our direct support in honoring Rylee and her approach to life as…life is too short…CANNONBALL!

Rylee’s Family and Founders of the Foundation

Michelle Clark, CEO and Founder

Michelle is the President of the Foundation. She grew up in Danville, CA and graduated from Sacramento State University with a major in Communication. After graduation, she worked as a Corporate Recruiter for seven years before having their twin daughters, Reese and Rylee. Since then, she has been busy being the CEO of her home, Room Mom for several years, several PTA Roles, Advocating for No Child Left Behind and student rights, Coaching Softball for eight years while also serving on multiple non-profit boards, and ultimately became the primary caregiver for Rylee after being diagnosed with Pineoblastoma brain cancer. Michelle is instrumental in being a founding member of the Rylee Grace Foundation. She currently holds the CEO position for the non-profit and sits as President of the Board of Directors.

Mike Clark, Treasurer and Secretary

Mike was a police officer for six years. After moving to Financial Services, Mike moved his way into multiple management positions, from Senior Partner within the firm to Regional Vice President and Managing Partner of two large Firms in California. Today Mike is Co-General Agent for MassMutual Northern California. Mike has served on multiple non-profit boards ranging from college athletics to serving families with special needs children. Mike also coached with Michelle and is currently an assistant coach for Reese’s competitive travel softball team. Mike has been instrumental in establishing the Rylee Grace Foundation and currently holds the Treasurer and Secretary positions managing the overall finances of the Foundation.

Reese Clark, Vice-President

Reese is currently a sophomore at Granite Bay High School. She is a tremendous student-athlete who not only gets it done in the classroom but has also served with multiple non-profit organizations helping special needs kids. Her passion is to honor her sister, Rylee, with her focus on becoming a child therapist after college. Reese plans on attending college to further her studies and play college softball. Reese is instrumental in setting up the Rylee Grace Foundation as a founding member and sits on the Board as the current Vice President.

Our purpose in establishing the Rylee Grace Foundation is to serve families under financial hardship or stress with additional expenses that are not covered under traditional insurance coverage. Our experience with Rylee from 2020 through 2023 with additional costs of travel, lodging, and bills…just to name a few things that were not anticipated or expected. Our Foundation and its dedicated donors will support bridging the gap so families can focus their attention on family and fighting for a cure.