Teen W/TBI relocated to the Mayo

#gobeyondgiving 
This is Joanne. She is a single mother to 3 beautiful children. Joanne has the biggest heart that I have ever known. She has dedicated countless hours, days, weeks to a Non-Profit Organization that she founded by the name of Flags for Fort Snelling. It is Joanne’s goal to make sure that every soldier gets the recognition and remembrance that they so rightfully deserve. But it doesn’t stop there, Joanne has adopted countless US Soldiers that are on deployment and also has adopted a Disabled Veteran and their family for the holiday seasons in the past that have returned home from deployment.
Joanne is attending online college at Metropolitan State University, finishing her 2nd degree in the Criminal justice/ Law Enforcement field, working full time, and being a single parent full time. Joanne has dedicated her life to helping other. However, unfortunately the time has come to where Joanne needs some help.
Joanne’s youngest daughter Alannah, has come to have had 6 concussions over the course of little over a year resulting in brain injury. All require multiple appointments, hospital stays, ER visits, special eye glasses, therapy sessions, OT, PT for the foreseeable future with the possibility of the rest of her life. This bright, spunky young girl has had to give up being a kid, running around, having fun, few friends that understand her limitations, and many that don’t. How do you explain this to a 13 year old ? You can no longer play sports you love. You can no longer run around with your friends. You have missed too much school and will have to work harder.
All of these things that Alannah has to endure, not only takes time, but it takes money. Alannah’s medical bills are over 5k and climbing. Every appointment requires up to hour of travel one way depending on the time of day, parking fees, co-pays, loss of work and wages. Alannah has had up to 5 appointments a week at one time .
Joanne has dedicated her life to others, but more importantly Joanne is dedicated everything she is to her children. Being a strong willed person showing her children that they can be whatever they want to be. Showing her daughters how to be strong independent women, showing her son how to be a gentleman, how to treat women. That is not an easy task for a pair of parents. Joanne is doing it as one.
We are trying to raise money to help Joanne with her accrued medical bills, the special glasses that Alannah will need, the cost of each visit and the many other financial responsibilities that have had to be pushed back to make sure the costs for the visits is there Alannah can continue her therapy and treatment, and if there is any left over ,a well deserved vacation for this little girl that has missed out on so much of the last 2 years of her life. All she has known is Dr.’s, pain, medications, some that don’t work, countless specialists that are stumped and don’t know how to help her improve.
Any amount would be one step closer to our goal. No donation amount too small . Joanne and Alannah cant thank you enough in advance. Let's help lessen the stress that she feels while trying to help her daughter. Anyone that knows her, knows that she would be the first person to help in anyway she could if it was someone else in her shoes.