This fundraiser gives all of us the opportunity to provide support for Amanda today – in return for her being able to give back to those in need for the next thirty years as a Licensed Therapist.

Amanda began graduate school two years ago while continuing to work full-time. Currently, she is going into a demanding final year to earn a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology at Delaware Valley University. Her motivation to accept this challenge is her deep commitment to help others. Amanda has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. After an active childhood, she began to experience muscle weakness in college and now uses a motorized wheelchair for independence. She is fully engaged in everything she does and has not let her disability slow her down or limit her goals and aspirations.

As a close friend, I am constantly in awe of her positive, joyful, compelling, self-aware, and inspiring personality – which includes a delightful sense of humor in the face of the absurdities that life throws at us. She has simply incorporated her condition into daily life and makes the most out of time. She handles every challenge with grace and determination.

Amanda supported herself for the past 13 years working for a corporation. However, in order to complete her Masters, she must partake in an intense internship alongside classes which made it impossible to continue her job. The immediate goal is to cover her expenses over the next nine months so that she can achieve her goal of serving our community - a community that will grow over the years as more people seek her wise counsel and authentically empathetic approach.

With gratitude,

Tom Taft