Hi, my name is Lili, and I’ve set up this Gofundme campaign for my son, Dante. My husband Richard and I adopted Dante when he was only 18 months old (he’ll be 6 years old on February 21st!), and he’s been a blessing in our lives ever since. In the time that we’ve raised him, we’ve learned a lot about him.

Even though Dante is the greatest joy of our lives, his life can be very challenging for him. He is a sweet little boy that has been diagnosed with a number of disabilities including speech delay, Apraxia, phonological disorder, fine motor delay, disruptive behavior disorder, Autism and Anxiety. Because of Dante's Anxiety, he has a very hard time regulating his emotions, which is often the root of his emotional outbursts and impulsive behaviors. Dante has trouble focusing on the task at hand, and often needs supervision and redirection from his Mommy and Daddy (us!).

While we’ve learned ways to try and manage with his many challenges he sadly has to face, we came to the conclusion that we need to give our loving baby boy a coping method that can truly minimize his stress and anxiety he faces. We made finding the solution to this problem our biggest priority when he was recently diagnosed with a seizure disorder.

Since November, Dante has had nocturnal seizures that we’ve had to handle 6 times. He is currently on anti-seizure medication, but unfortunately, his night seizures are still a big concern that hasn’t been fully eliminated. Recently, Dante had a double seizure that lasted more than 5 minutes, which is as troubling as it is concerning to me. My husband and I know this because we woke up when Dante was seizing before his second seizure.

Under the advice of friends and medical staff, we’ve come to the conclusion that it would greatly benefit Dante to have a therapy dog to help with his seizures during the day and night. As INCREDIBLY helpful as this already would be, there are even MORE reasons that having a therapy dog would improve Dante’s life drastically. We’ve learned that therapy dogs are very helpful not only for medical reasons, but also for interrupting negative behaviors in children with anxiety. These dogs are able to motivate their child to work through tough emotions and situations by calmly interjecting the moment said child is on the verge of an outburst or seizure. The dog also helps the child by cuddling with them, providing a calming energy during stress spikes from their conditions and helping the child focus when he is having a hard day. It’s very clear that this would also be a massive help for Dante at any moment he may be stressed by his struggle with his speech/motor skills.

I have thoroughly filled multiple applications for the therapy dog, and have been waiting to hear back from those involved with providing these services. However, as helpful and invaluable as all of these traits are, the cost for a therapy dog is beyond our means. While we would gladly pay what we can to ensure the health and safety of our son given how serious his conditions are, we figured that the best thing to do was reach out and pray as we attempted to secure funds.

We greatly appreciate any donations to help us reach our goal. The funds that we raise will be 100% spent towards the expenses of purchasing and insuring the therapy dog. We are hopeful to be able to add this fuzzy little lifesaver to our family. We believe that Dante's future will be full of everlasting joy and hope with a furry friend by his side for what have been the most valuable and life-saving years of his life. Thank you in advance for helping us reach our goal.

God bless you all and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read our plea.