Showing Shamar We Care

Dear Friends and Family,

We’re reaching out to let you know that we are kicking off a campaign to help my nephew Shamar and our family. We need your help to show Shamar we care and that he is not alone.

In July of 2023, Shamar was a victim of gun violence while away from home. Unfortunately, one of the places he was injured is his spine. The injury has left him paralyzed from the shoulder down. The first few months of his recovery were spent in the hospital and in-patient therapy. Although that portion of recovery was covered by insurance, now that he is home, insurance will not pay for some of the associated costs.

The effects of this incident are devastating for our family, however, the prognosis is promising. His care team is hopeful he will be able to regain more mobility in his arms and will be able to dress, lift and care for himself. Shamar has a dream to get his driver's license and drive and with new accessibility in cars, this will remain a goal. He also wishes to continue school and pursue a trade.

The family is raising funds to purchase an accessible vehicle to ensure Shamar gets to all of his appointments in his electric wheelchair (on average, the cost of a new wheelchair van can range from $35,000 to $70,000 or more), continued purchasing of medical supplies, medications, and therapies (physical, occupational, speech and mental health) but above all, to ensure Shamar can still explore the world as a young adult.

The family has exhausted all options for transport with the insurance company, but with little luck (reservations not booked in their system, the wrong kind of vehicle being booked, home health requests being denied by companies). We can’t cure Shamar, and we don’t see this new disability as a fault or flaw in him, but we can help ease the financial burden and resultant stress that he and the family is facing. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to begin to help with the costs of a reliable vehicle to get him to and from his weekly therapy sessions.

To tell you more about my nephew, Shamar is a recent highschool graduate from the Valley View School District, he actually finished early with his classes in January. He is an older brother of 4 siblings (plus a dog sibling). He has a strong spirit and a love for music and anime. He loves sneakers, cologne, and quite frankly, being the cool big brother. He has a good sense of humor and when he’s in a really good mood, you can catch him loudly singing or rapping his favorite songs.

Shamar is loved and adored by all of his family and we are so proud of him. My sister, Shamar’s mother, loves him fiercely. She did not hesitate to make the decision to leave her job to be able to stay with him day and night while he was in the hospital and is now his primary caregiver. My brother-in-law his dad, did not hesitate to take FMLA to be there with him and take care shifts with my sister. My two other sisters traveled to be with us to ensure we could all be here for him. I moved out of my apartment early, to move into my sister’s home, and help care for the 4 youngest kids. His grandmother generously let his parents utilize her car for as long as they needed to help with transportation traveling back and forth to downtown Chicago where he was receiving care. Friends, family, our parents, sent money, ordered food, prayed, and visited, that is the care Shamar has wrapped around him.

You can help in the following ways:

Please consider making as generous a gift as you can today, or pledging to do so in the coming months toward our $20,0000 fundraising goal.

Regards,

Sharazazi

* Shamar with his 4 siblings and 1 cousin.*