Many of you have followed our journey with our youngest son Logan. We first met 2 year old Logan on January 3rd, 2017 after he was found naked on the side of Arlington Expressway in the early morning hours. That evening he was placed in our arms and he hasn’t left since. We fostered Logan for about a year and then adopted him. He is the most amazing kid and we would do anything for him. His journey has been tough, he has suffered severe neglect and abuse. On top of that he has Global development delay, Autism (Asbergers), ADHD Combined, and undiagnosed PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance). He also deals with major sensory and food issues. This road of special needs was new to us and we had to learn how to advocate for our son. Because of his trauma history we have spent years trying to understand the extreme behaviors and meltdowns. I am so grateful that after years of unstable and extreme behavior we are at a somewhat stable place. PRAISE GOD!!! We have to live our lives in such a way that Logan stays at peace which requires a very limited way of living. We are happy to do that for our amazing kid. This past summer Logan was in an environment that triggered him in a significant way. During these extreme meltdowns he expressed some very negative feelings towards himself as well as some self harm tendencies. Although we have been dealing with this from day one we are concerned as he goes into teenage years these feelings could result in long term consequences. Because Logan’s three siblings are older and have all moved out, he is now being raised as an only child. Enter the SERVICE DOG!!! After visiting a friends house that had 5 dogs (Logan used to be terrified of dogs) we watched him interact with the dogs in such a tender way. A way in which we haven’t seen him interact with people. My husband and I begin to research service dogs for kids with autism and we were met with such hope. Although we had sticker shock ($20,000 +) for a trained dog, we began to pray and ask the Lord for help. We stumbled on a local company, Project Chance, that trains white golden retrievers specifically for kids with autism and …… they only charge $14,000. Logan has already begun training with their current dogs to become familiar with the process. Once Logan picks his puppy, which will happen November 8th of this year. He will begin to train for 14 months with his puppy. The dog will not live with us full time until the training is complete. But we will weekly bond and train during that time. The service dog will be trained to go with Logan everywhere he goes, including in public. He will be trained to intervene during meltdowns (especially during self injurious behaviors), prevent eloping (running away). He will be trained to sleep with Logan at night and be his constant companion. We feel in our hearts this is a real answer to get Logan through his adolescence years. Justin and I are not in a position to pay $14,000 for the dog. After much prayer we feel released to turn to our village for help. We have watched over the years many come alongside of us in our journey with Logan. We have never been alone in it. There are many that can share in the success we see in Logan. We are hoping to at least raise some of the money required towards the dog. If you feel led to contribute our hearts are so very grateful. Thank you for being a part of this continued journey.