From Charlie and Maura Weis
Dear Friends,
This year for Hannah and Friends has been simply “Amazing”. We have purchased 30 acres here in South Bend for the farm and residential homes. We had our ground breaking ceremony on August 4th and it was very special. Hannah actually made it to the ceremony and she clearly liked being the star. She had the biggest smile on her face as she lifted the shovel and received applause from all of our friends. It was a great day for Hannah and Friends and it could not have happened this quickly without your generosity. I may be considered the chairman of our organization, but I know the chairman is really God. Whenever we need something or someone, God seems to send them our way and we are genuinely blessed.
Sharon and I went to a wonderful place in Chicago called “Misericordia”. Sister Rosemary started this haven for people with disabilities in 1976. It is housed on 31 acres of land and serves 550 children and adults. Some live on the land and others live in residential homes throughout Chicago. It was so great to see so many happy people there. The love that the residents share with each other and their caregivers is truly special. Sister Rosemary offered a lot of great advice and will be mentoring us through our building process and beyond. We truly feel that people with special needs enjoy being with each other and living a life where friendships last a lifetime. We feel that there should be a choice between a typical group home situation and living in a loving community with friends and family being a big part of their lives. I know that we have a great new friend in Sister Rosemary and her staff. They have proven that this lifestyle works well. Everyone deserves choices. Why should people with disabilities be any different?
Without your generosity, we would not have been able to grant out over $76,000 this year to our families with low to moderate incomes. These families who have a member or members with special needs are extremely grateful. I wish you could read all of their letters of thanks. Lives are definitely changed because of the grants. The recipients now can join music therapy, therapeutic riding lessons, YMCA memberships, swimming lessons, summer camp and let’s not forget about respite care. We even supplied gasoline and food money to a family who needed to get from South Bend to a hospital in Indianapolis. They were so thankful to get there and be able to help their grandson get a diagnosis. This is what your grant money does for our families.
In addition, we have granted out over $1.1 million to Lou Holtz’s and Ara Parseghian’s charities. We also have helped our local charities such as Reins of Life & Camp Millhouse. Thanks so much for your donations to our Hannah’s Helping Hands Grant program.
Our first buildings, the rec center and the caretaker cottage, will be going up this fall. Completion should be by the spring of 2008. We will start our monthly meetings in the rec center this summer. We want families in the area to come together to network on doctors and programs for people with disabilities in the area. We also want to highlight a family a month so that they can share their story of their special family member. We will highlight their story on our web-site monthly for those who cannot attend.
This spring our first 2 residential homes will be going up and we hope to have our first residents in by fall 2008. We will never sacrifice quality over quantity; we want our residents to find happiness and peace here at the farm. We also want the local students to get involved with our residents. It will be a great time for everyone. The residents and the community have much to learn from each other.
When Hannah was young, we often wondered what she will be able to learn. Little did we know how much our daughter would teach our family. She has taught us to truly love someone unconditionally, she has deepened our faith in God, and she has shown us that the miracle of life never ends. She also has shown us that people with disabilities are really the strongest of all. They know how to love, they harbor no prejudices, they lead clean lives and they know how to have a good laugh. They are truly God’s most innocent people and they need our help. They struggle physically and mentally, but their spirits are truly inspirational. They have much to offer all of us if we want to learn. We are thankful to have Hannah in our lives. She and so many others are our Angels on earth.
This year we are planning some great events. We will have a St.Patty’s Day party this March in South Bend complete with a great Irish Band. We will have our 5th Annual Golf Tournament on June 7th and our Gala the evening before. Please reserve as soon as you can as the foursomes are filling up already. If you cannot golf, please purchase tickets for the dinner as it is always a fun time. In July, we are planning a Jersey Shore dinner for the folks who cannot travel to the Midwest. Please check our web-site for more details. Then in August, we will have a dinner in Chicago as well. Please try your best to attend all or one of these events.
We cannot thank you enough for your support. With the increase of Autism and global developmental delays, there are not a lot of charities looking for ways to plan for the future. The rise in Autism started in the 90’s putting those affected now in their mid-teens. Where is this population going to go? Most will not be able to live independently. We are hoping our community is duplicated throughout the states. We hope to inspire other communities to plan for their future. We need to find ways to work with the government to get things done. Research is great, but what about the people affected now? There does not seem to be a lot being done in the residential home area and we hope to change that mindset. We appreciate your donations and will work hard for every dollar donated. Charlie & I take no salary and we only have 2 employees, our executive director Sharon Bui Green and Stephanie Sarell. Again thanks and have a great year.
Maura & Charlie Weis
