The Accessible Life for the Smolkos

UPDATED NEED - May 2025

Tim and Joanna are so grateful for your kindness that allowed them to travel. They had a wonderful trip to Paris this spring as a couple, breaking in Tim's snazzy wheelchair, and are taking the kids on a trip to Prince Edward Island this summer, a region that has many accommodations built in.

The Smolkos have two major needs at this time:

Thanks to your gifts and the Smolko's careful saving, we have $20K to put toward these projects, but will need at least $40K more to fully fund these projects.

They have already been overwhelmed by the generosity of their community and are so grateful for your support!

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February 2025 -

I've known Joanna for almost 30 years, where we met first day of freshman year of college. Joanna and I first went to Paris together in the summer after our junior year--a transformative experience. One of the things that connected Tim and Joanna was their mutual love for travel, because it connected them to their love for others.

Every year they save from their modest university salaries until they can afford their next trip. Along the way, planning becomes an experience itself, and one they bring into their homeschooling. They learn history, art, food, culture, (and of course, music). Travel has become a key value for their family as they grow in their love for humanity.

This fall, after experiencing some disquieting symptoms, Tim was diagnosed with ALS (aka, Lou Gherig's disease -- a progressive, incurable neurological disease that causes nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to die). Understandably, the Smolkos have been gradually imagining their new future together.

One of the consequences of the disease is that one does not know how long they will be able to maintain their mobility. Tim's doctor has encouraged him to travel now while he still can, which disrupts the careful saving schedule Tim had crafted.

While he is well enough, Tim would like to take two trips in the next year: one to Paris with Joanna and one to Nova Scotia as a family. These are places where the family has special memories and joys. They want to plant memories in these places that they can hold on to when the future becomes difficult.

Tim and Joanna are some of the most generous people I know. They give freely of their time and resources. They are eager to meet needs of those around them with compassion and empathy. If I were in a time of crisis, they are the people I would want around me.

Contributing to this travel fund is a way we can show love to the whole family and support Tim and Joanna as they face this new chapter in their infamous Chronicles. These funds will cover the cost of their travel while also allowing for the extra expenditure of traveling with a worsening disability.

Bon voyage, Smolkos!