We Helped Heather Get Up Her Stairs By Christmas!

We did it friends and family!

Together, contributions made by over 60 people have allowed us to reach our fundraising goal in just days!

Heather is going to be able to schedule her installation and get up her stairs with the installation of a stair lift by Christmas ❤️

We could not have accomplished our goals without kindness such as all of yours and we love and appreciate all of you for your support.

Heather's Fundraising Story:

HI friends and Family! We know you're the giving kind and being the helpful caring folks you are, we are asking for your help getting Heather up the stairs by Christmas!

As you may or may not know Heather is a 35 years-young, single mother, and has lived her whole life battling against Cerebral Palsy and the ways it effects her body, her abilities and even her ability to generate a dependable income.

If you know Heather, you know she is the last person to complain, to take a break, or even to ask for help, but this time we (her family) are asking for her.

Heather recently moved into an affordable housing apartment in downtown Des Moines and found a great community where her daughter can play outside, they are close to her daughter's school, and for the first time ever Heather and her daughter each even have their own room in their apartment! (For anyone with a young child knows, this is huge for privacy, play time and sometimes even - sanity!)

The apartment did however come with some limitations that make it really very challenging. For one thing, the only apartment Heather could get into would have to be a two story. Heather is unable to walk and therefore going up and down the stairs is Incredibly difficult for her. She has to resort to crawling, sliding and climbing, risking falls, breaks and carpet burns. Heather has sustained multiple injuries and continued bruising from this. The stairway is also very narrow and very steep, the average person who is fully capable (without a disability) definitely still needs to be careful and hold the railing for safety, a feature and option Heather doesn't have.

Heather and her daughter moved into this apartment in early summer of this year and after months of sustained bodily abuse from going up and down this staircase Heather reached out to her landlord and inquired if there were any accommodations that could be made. I'll Share the documentation here indicating that her housing was not supportive and did not offer any reasonable accommodations.

Thus, leaving Heather, on her very limited income, with limited resources, to continue to fight her way up and down these stairs once, twice, sometimes three times a day.

Hold on, the topper on the cake here is that I have failed to mention yet that the Only bathroom in the apartment is also located on the second floor!

Heather has tried to use the restroom once a day to keep her from having to physically drag herself up and down the stairs multiple times a day, causing more injury, soreness and loss of energy. Heather has resorted to purchasing portable bathrooms to try and use in her kitchen in emergency when she cannot make it up their stairs again, and worst of all she sometimes finds herself incapable of making it up these stairs in time.

I trust that you can understand how hard this must be, imagining yourself struggling to crawl up and and down the stairs is hard enough.

I implore you to also now imagine you're a 35 year old single mom, exhausted sometimes from the moment you wake up, who's had multiple surgeries to help release and ease physical ailments caused by your disability, that doing daily tasks such as getting dressed or making breakfast requires much more time and energy than it does for you or I, and that when you gotta go, you gotta go...

Now Imagine the pain, and being such a strong and independent person who doesn't complain, nor ask for help.

Here's the situation, we all give to charities or donate to causes, and like to think we help out a friend or a neighbor in need, but often times we don't personally know them or see where our money is going, nor do we really give all that we can or all that often. Im asking for a little bit of help from those of us who can spare some, who wants to help our family get Heather a Stair Lift, installed and ready to go for Heather by Christmas!

Now that would be a Christmas Miracle for her!

We found a company that specializes in narrow steep stairways, they are able to install a beautiful and ready to use Stair Lift! The unit, installed and with a year warranty is going to cost $3,900.00.

Lets come together as a community, as a larger family and help one of our own in need.

This holiday season please help by making donation or contribution to help Heather get up the Stairs by Christmas.

*If there are any funds in excess of the amount raised for the stairlift received, they will go directly to the upkeep and maintenance of Heather's apartment and living needs.