Introduction

Thank you for being here! We are fundraising for our son, Joshua Bennett Bailey, who was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy in June 2025.

Our Mission

1. Raise funding and support for Joshua's current needs to help him reach his full potential.

2. Educate and raise awareness about cerebral palsy to break down misconceptions.

3. Help future families through the Joshua's Journey Foundation, officially launching this fall.

This stage of Joshua's life is critical in cultivating his neuroplasticity, meaning the ability of his brain to learn and adapt. Your donation will help cover the cost of Joshua's intensive therapies, specialized equipment necessary to make Joshua's world more accessible, future home modifications, and the resources he needs to grow, learn, and thrive, while making sure that distance or cost never stand between Joshua and the best possible care.

As his family, we want to give Joshua access to every possible opportunity to reach his full potential. That means not only exploring options locally, but also nationally and potentially internationally, including state of the art intensive therapy programs, emerging stem cell therapies and research breakthroughs still to come. We don't ever want to look back and say we could have done more to help Joshua reach his full potential.

Thank you for your consideration in helping Joshua and our family. Follow Joshua’s journey and how your donation is helping him on instagram @joshuasjourney23.

Our long-term goal is to pay it forward and to help other families with children like Joshua navigate their own cerebral palsy journey.

Joshua’s Immediate Treatments Needs/Costs (1-12 months)

2 weeks of intensive therapy at Rise Pediatric Intensive Therapy in Westfield, New Jersey Rise Intensive Therapy

4 weeks of intensive therapy at Intensive Therapeutics, Inc. in West Caldwell, New Jersey

Gait Trainer

Bath tub

Early Intervention

Joshua’s potential longer term needs/costs (12-36 months)

Home modifications, including a home renovation and/or addition or the purchase of a more accessible home that meets Joshua’s needs

An accessible vehicle for Joshua to ride in safely and comfortably

Stem cell therapy, currently experimental and would require travel out of the country

NAPA Center, world-renowned pediatric therapy located in different cities around the country, as well as internationally

So what does a spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy diagnosis mean?

Cerebral palsy is a condition caused by an injury to the brain or a difference in how it developed, usually from a lack of oxygen in utero or during delivery. It's not a disease, and it is not progressive. The brain injury itself is permanent and it changes how signals travel from the brain to the muscles, which is what shapes everything else about Joshua's diagnosis.

Spasticity means abnormal muscle tightness, affecting both muscle tone and movement. Joshua has low tone in his core, but high tone in his upper and lower extremities, causing each of his movements to require more effort and energy than a typical child his age.

Quadriplegic means that all of Joshua’s limbs are affected, specifically his right arm and leg, and often the trunk and muscles used for things like sitting, head control, and sometimes speech or swallowing. It's the most extensive form of CP in terms of how much of the body is involved, which is why kids with this type often need more intensive support, such as physical and occupational therapy, mobility equipment, and sometimes surgeries or medication to manage muscle tightness.

Urgency

Although it's uncomfortable for us to ask for help, we will seek out all resources and connections necessary to give Joshua the best opportunity to reach his full potential. Our journey thus far has been incredibly humbling. Joshua is at an especially critical age for development right now. The next 12 to 24 months represent a window where consistent, intensive intervention can make a real and life long lasting difference in his growth and independence.

Joshua's medical team has specifically recommended intensive combined physical and occupational therapy, a condensed, high-frequency program shown to support greater gains in brain development and function than standard once-a-week therapy alone. Without it, kids like Joshua are at real risk of losing ground they've already gained, developing painful complications like muscle tightening and contractures, and facing a harder road toward independence later in life. With it, the goal is exactly the opposite: helping Joshua build strength, coordination, and the skills he needs to thrive at home, at school, and in his community.

Most kids in outpatient therapy go once or twice a week for 30-45 minutes at a time; steady, but slow-moving. DMI, or Dynamic Movement Intervention, flips that model: instead of spread-out sessions, it's several hours a day, several days a week, for a focused stretch of time (often 2-4 weeks). The idea is that the brain and body respond better to that kind of concentrated, repetitive practice, similar to how an athlete training daily before a big event improves faster than one who practices once a week. For kids with cerebral palsy, that concentrated approach can help unlock progress, like new movement patterns or motor skills, in weeks that might otherwise take months or years to reach.

Joshua’s Story

Joshua was born prematurely on December 24, 2023 via stat c-section. A true Christmas miracle! Joshua spent the first three weeks of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Morristown Medical Center, the very same unit where his mom, Sara, has worked for fifteen years as a dedicated NICU nurse. Joshua then required a higher level of care for testing and was transported to CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) before finally coming home to West Milford, New Jersey to be with his siblings Brody and Ava.

After a year of slow but steady growth, it became apparent that milestones were not being met. In June 2025, an MRI confirmed what his team already suspected, a brain injury was present. Joshua was officially diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

Joshua is fortunate to be surrounded by an incredible support system. Family, friends, doctors, therapists, nurses, social workers, and colleagues of both Sara and Dave (dad) have allowed Joshua to lead a happy and productive life so far.

We hope that sharing Joshua’s journey can not only help our family along our path but also allow us to pay it forward and help current and future parents navigate the long and winding road of raising a child with disabilities. There is so much that we are learning each day and it can be very overwhelming. Between Sara’s experiences as a NICU nurse and Dave’s experiences as a school principal we are hopeful that we can help others.

Our family has been surrounded by incredible love and support, and we are deeply grateful. By supporting Joshua, you are helping us meet his immediate needs while also encouraging the bigger mission behind Joshua’s Journey: to learn, to share, and one day help other families raising children with disabilities feel less alone. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading, for caring, and for supporting our sweet boy.

The Bailey Family