The Living Bank

October 1968 - The Living Bank was established as a nonprofit organization. That year Dr. Denton Cooley and his team of surgeons performed the first heart transplant in the United States in Houston. Five Houston women, realizing no formal way to donate organs existed, saw a need for a donor registry that would allow medical professionals to match organs with waiting recipients.

Today The Living Bank focuses on public education and living donor advocacy. Living Donor Advocates perform assessments of potential living donors and counseling living donors before, during, and after surgery. The newly launched Independent Living Donor Advocacy Network (ILDAN) connects social workers, psychologists, physicians, nurses and clergy who work as independent living donor advocates. ILDAN offers virtual resources that provide professional development, solutions, collaboration and peer support through live webinars, videos of instruction and forums.