Donate for Matthew's Group Home Improvements!

Will I always have to wonder if my brother is going to be ok? Only three weeks away from his move into a group home, I have come to truly realize how much this question has been burdening my soul. It's an incredible relief to know that not only is there an army of family and friends behind my brother Matthew, but now there's a company that will provide support 24/7 for his health, medical appointments, daily food and drink, and his constant need to not be bored and always "get outta here.”

Matthew’s recovery from his TBI (traumatic Brain injury), acquired in a car accident in 2006, was my inspiration to pursue a career in the developmental disabilities field. The initial news from the doctors in 2006 was that he wouldn’t be able to do much of anything. He’s proven that prognosis wrong by learning again how to walk, crack jokes, and even able to continue his passion of being an artist!

Even with an army of support, caregiving is incredibly taxing on those closest to the person supported. My mom has been an incredible example of what it means to be there for family. For 18 years she's woken up early (4:30, 5:30 am) and stayed up late providing for Matthew's every need. As an adult sibling who lives only a moderate drive away, from time to time I've maybe pushed myself too hard to be there for Matthew and tag team in for my mom when she's exhausted or can't find other neighbors or church members to swap in so she can get a needed break. What a joy, a tired kind of joy, to know that the group home is only 3 weeks away. What a relief to know that the future of providing a good long and healthy life for Matthew no longer means that my mom and I are pushing ourselves to our max for Matthew's sake.

As an artist, Matthew definitely has an eye for taste. On walks he’ll point at houses and say something like “You see that over there? Uuuugh I don’t like that!” then laugh. Knowing my brother, there’s a part of me that worries about a type of depression setting in for him. How will he be affected by moving from a very spacious, nice home to a smaller, non-quite-as-updated house? It would do my brotherly heart good if, as one last hurrah in this 18-year journey of being there for my brother as much as I am able, one last venture before handing off his care to a group home company, I do whatever I can to make his new house the best home it can be.

Aesthetics, however, may have to wait. There are some accessibility needs that couldn't be funded by the limits of a taxpayer funded program, which has already done a lot to make the home accessible to Matthew. He can get in and out of his soon to be new home thanks to that funding, but as it stands now there are still some physically tight corners and difficult areas to navigate.

Will you help us raise the funds to give my brother a more accessible and comfortable home for both him and his wheelchair? We have some practical goals in mind…

1) Widening the doorway from the garage to the house. There’s a possible load-

bearing wall that could drive up the cost of widening.

2) Widening a very narrow sidewalk from the driveway to the front door of the

house. Matthew’s depth perception and overall eyesight is getting worse over time. The narrow sidewalk has us very concerned for his safety.

3) An area in the kitchen he can pull his wheelchair up to so he can help with meal prep. We all grew up helping to cook meals from scratch. Being able to help with meal prep would be tremendous for his happiness, sense of self, and connection to childhood memories and family traditions.

4) A modified kitchen sink that he can pull his wheelchair up to and help with washing, drying, or simply be able to wash his hands before and after meals without having to stretch and twist his body, potentially hurting his back. The plumbing underneath the sink needs to be moved or rearranged so it won’t hit his legs when he pulls his wheelchair up.

We would also love to afford various aesthetic updates, including:

- Sprucing up the patio area so it’s an inspiring place for him to paint and draw. Maybe also build raised garden beds so he can garden from his wheelchair.

- Updated windows; there’s barely any natural light in the living room. Matthew loves natural light, and it is a big help for his painting and drawing.

- Updated attic storage space. The folding ladder to get up there is quite rickety.

- A nice Entertainment center, huge TV mounted to the wall.

- Updated light fixtures throughout.

- And various smaller additions that will help turn this house into a home!

Being a group home, any modifications to the house will have to go through the landlord. If we have money left over because certain modifications weren't approved by the landlord, we will donate the excess to the MIssouri Brain Injury Association https://www.biamo.org/.