A Year Of Sponsorships

2012 Family Sponsors

Each month we select a family to contribute $5 of every order made that month to their cause. If you know of someone who could use our services please read about our sponsor program here and write to me at windowsbymelissa@gmail.com

In January we sponsored preemie baby, Ryan. He was born about five weeks early due to preeclampsia. In January, when he was one month old, he was admitted to the hospital for breathing complications and rhino virus. 

He is now one year old and doing very well. He had a few hospital visits throughout the year and has to take special precautions this winter to help prevent him from getting sick since a simple cold could land him back in the hospital. But other than that he is a normal baby and right on schedule with his developments.

In February we sponsored baby Seth Miller. Seth passed away last year due to dyskeratosis congenita. Our sponsorship helped with Seth's final expenses. Since then the Miller family has had another baby, Eliza Hope. Unfortunately she has been diagnosed with the same illness. We will be sponsoring baby Eliza in January. You can read their story here. More coming in January on how you can help with baby Eliza.

In March we sponsored my silly brother and his daughter. My brother had just finished undergrad with his accounting degree and we all know how tight finances are right around transition time. At that time his daughter, Berkeley, got sick for several months with breathing problems and her treatments were costly and not covered by insurance. I just say Berkeley on Christmas day and she is doing very well. She hasn't had to have her breathing treatments recently because she has made a great recovery! 

Here is Berkeley and my daughter, Miriam, on Christmas morning. 

In April we sponsored Avery, a six year old born with hydrocephalus and Cerebral Palsy. She has been doing an experimental therapy to help her be able to walk independently. As it is experimental it is not covered by insurance.  Here is a recent photo of Avery and an update from her mom.

"Thanks to the therapies Avery's been doing, as well as her own hard work and determination, Avery has made a lot of progress this year! She likes to be upright as much as possible, and rarely crawls at home anymore. She also likes to go without her walker when possible, so in places where she feels comfortable, like church, she has been walking independently whenever she's felt up to it. It is a joy to see her enjoying such a degree of independence, and we hope that she will be able to maintain the progress she's made, and gain even more physical strength and independence as she continues to work hard in therapy and at home. Thank you Melissa for helping her get the therapies she needs!"

In May we sponsored Brenna who was born with a rare skin condition called Harlequin Ichtyosis. This was unexpected when she was born and they have incurred many medical expenses. We are glad we could help!

Here is an update from Brenna's mom:

"Brenna is doing so well right now! She was very sick at the end of the summer and ended up having surgery to place a g-tube in her stomach, which we now feed her through to ensure that she is getting enough fluids and calories. Because her body uses so many calories for skin, she just couldn't keep up by herself. Now she is gaining weight and thriving, and she hasn't had a skin infection since early September! This week, we are celebrating a milestone that we couldn't have even imagined when she was born - her first birthday!"

In July we sponsored Adam. Adam lives with his grandma. He is 9 years old. He struggles with several disabilities. Among them are blindness, multiple sclerosis and some mental handi-caps. We helped donate money toward a new wheel chair for Adam as he had outgrown his other one.

Unfortunately, Adams scoliosis has become worse and he is facing the possibility of surgery mid next year. Otherwise he is a happy child spending lots of fun time with his grandma, sister and my kids!

In September we sponsored Brewer. " Brewer has hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). HLHS is a terminal heart defect where the left side of the heart is under developed and cannot perform it's function."

Here is an update from Brewer's mom: "Brewer is doing very well! Mid-september we were able to wean him off oxygen and he has been doing really well with out it! At last he is cord and wire free!! Recently we have had an appointment with Brewer's occupational therapist and his development is right on track and even ahead in some areas! Our last cardiologist appointment was also good news and we don't need to have another appointment for 6 months! In the next year, Brewer will have surgery to help correct his mega ureter and hopefully continue to come off medications. And there is still at least one more open heart surgery and transplant to plan for. But for now, we could't be more happy about his progress and are enjoying every moment of this "honeymoon" phase! We feel so blessed to have Brewer in our family and are so grateful to everyone who has prayed for and love our boy!!"

October and November were our months to save up for our Christmas Family.

We'll begin again in January! Please feel free to contact me at windowsbymelissa@gmail.com if you can think of anyone that might be a good candidate for our sponsor program.

Thank you all for a great year of helping others!