Welcome
Written by admin on June 2, 2008 – 4:44 pm -Welcome to Steve and Gigi’s Blog. This is the place where we will share important information about parenting a child with a disability. Our goal is to help people in many ways including financial assistance and education. We also want to help people overcome the challenges they face. Perseverance is critical in the life of a family dealing with disability. Encouragement from us and others will help you along the way.
We created an acronym for HOPE: Help, Overcome, Persevere, Encourage
Help–Overcome–Persevere–Encourage
HOPE is what has carried us through the 18 years of raising a son with a disability. HOPE is what got Gigi’s mother through raising ten children as a widow with a disability. Gigi’s mom, Helen McMahon Devine, was injured in a high school accident on the stage of the auditorium. An asbestos fire curtain crushed her spine and left her unable to walk for nearly a year. Once she recovered from the many surgeries, she limped due to the difference in the length of her legs.
Helen was told she could not bear children because her spine was fused with her shin bone for support. Yet by God’s grace, she delivered ten children – eight of them by cesarean section delivery. After Gigi’s dad died, Helen raised all of the children on a teacher’s salary. Even in the pain of her own disability, Helen was an encourager.
That legacy has been passed down to Gigi and now to Gabriel. We created this organization as a means to encourage families in the disability community and allow them to tell their stories. We will also help these families with their financial needs as we write grants and raise donations to increase the quality of life for those in need.
Stay tuned as we continue to launch our various programs. If you know of someone in need of encouragement, we love to send out encouragement cards. You can order a card for a $5.00 donationand we will send it to the person you request. The donations will help build our funds so we can help those families in financial need.
Your donations are tax deductible as a charitible gift. We are a 501(c)3 organization.
Posted in News | No Comments »
Launching of Gabriel’s Foundation of HOPE
Written by Gigi on June 2, 2008 – 4:20 pm -Welcome to our Blog.
We are so excited to launch our nonprofit organization – Gabriel’s Foundation of HOPE. This organization has been a dream for many years as we have experienced life as parents of a child with a disability. Gabriel (we call him Gabe) turned 18 just a couple of months ago. The years have flown. We have spent time high on the mountain and low in the valley in the 18 years since he was born.
Gabe’s birth defects were a complete surprise to us. We had no prior warning and no history of physical birth defects in either of our families. After overcoming the initial shock, we quickly learned that Gabriel was an amazing young man.
I have chronicled the story of raising Gabe in my journal. I’ve kept a journal for 35 years. There are some years where my entries were few and far between. But over the last 10 or 12 years, I have written almost daily.
We hope to share with you the book I am writing about this experience. The working title is “He Handed me Hope with His Three-Inch Arms – The Story of a Mother’s Hope for Her Disabled Son”
The next book I’m working on is a compilation of stories of amazing people we have met along the road of raising Gabe. We’ll start with our incredible Challenger Little League Baseball team where we have 17 amazing families to brag about. The possiblities are endless as we continue to meet new people with unique stories to tell.
We hope that you will browse through our website and let us know of any family in need. Our goal is to help encourage families dealing with disability in a variety of ways.
Have a great day. Thanks for checking out our web site. Please be sure to let us know if you have any questions. Gigi
Posted in Launching our Organization | 2 Comments »