Help the Smith's
Donation protected
We are the Smith Family of Wildwood Missouri. We are a very different and unique family and if you ever meet us, it is likely we will not be easily forgotten. I am writing this as the mom of all the children and Wife of Eric.
Our children range in age from 4 year to fifteen, and many of them have special needs. Our family represents a variety of ethnic backgrounds, ability levels and is a combination of three biological and six adopted children, as well as Eric and myself. Our children represent many medical diagnoses and different disabilities ….some of them have more than one…. Down Syndrome, Autism, ADD, ADHD, ODD, Type One Diabetes, Epilepsy, Visual impairment, Fragile X and severe Cerebral Palsy. Some of them were adopted privately, some were adopted from foster care and some of our children are our biological offspring, but one thing all nine of them have in common is a love for each other that knows no bounds!!!!! These children are one family…they know it and making that happen has been no small job…. (Ok well it has been my full time job for the last 15 years)….. But when you meet them you can see how much they love and are interdependent on each other and reveal in each other’s successes and share the pain of failure.
We became a family of eleven when we adopted Sarah from a wonderful agency in Kansas n 2011. They were sure that Sarah would have cerebral palsy due to her severe birth trauma. But the needs and things she required changed dramatically the first year of life than what was even predicted. What I thought would be minor modifications have become game and lifestyle and have made even larger growing chasms between our life and most of the lives of our friends.
This required many lifestyle changes and many more added responsibilities for ALL of us, but our family has an abundance of many things…. we have a lot of love ,creativity, energy, excitement, enthusiasm, and to share all those things daily with Sarah and our others is my goal….. And we do!
We have kept going since she needed her ventilator and all her additional equipment to continue her life. But being the family for Sarah has come at a high price physically and emotionally and finacially for all my children and my husband.
I have to admit we need help…….I need help. We have slowly remodeled our home…… to make it easier for Sarah and all the children. But we are coming to an end of the things I can do without help.
In keeping up with Sarah we have let other important things go, to many important things! And none of this covers the items we still need for Sarah either. These are things that let her live and communicate and participate in our life and the world around us.
I can’t keep going at the stress level we have had over money. Sarah is an expensive child. She has a huge amount added costs that insurance does not and never will cover. Some of our added costs of a child with as many needs as Sarah. Include ncreased electric bills (We have have 200 to 300 dollars a month just in added electrical costs due to her ventilators and other equipment. on all day and night). Sarah 's wheel chair required a ramp to be built on our home that was at a cost of almost $13,000. We have had to modify our van with a lift and seats, but that reduced the number of children we could transport at a time. So we purchased in 2012 an older bus with a lift. We are almost done paying on our bus (16 more months) with its wheel chair space and ability to travel with all the children in one vehicle.
Both the van and the bus need major repairs before we all take Sarah’s Make a wish trip in March. I try to make sure all my children have what they need and enjoy life and participate in many activities. We all go and embrace life and play and have fun……. Even when we are facing adversity or medical needs that tie us to an area around our home of about 10 miles most of the time for her safety?
In keeping up with Sarah we have let other important things go, to many important things! And none of this covers the items we still need for Sarah either. These are things that let her live and communicate and participate in our life and the world around us. Roof, septic, needed updated electrical & emergency lighting, a whole house generator and all those things that an old house needs to be the forever home to six special needs children that are slowly becoming adults with disabilities. I need and want them to be able to call our hous ehome as they age and Eric and I to continue to care for them.
And none of this covers the items we still need for Sarah either. These are things that let her live and communicate and participate in our life and the world around us. She is going to need a new stander, which insurance has turned down twice. I want her to get this amazing augmentative communication device we have been trialing. Insurance will hopefully pick up a good portion…… but we only get one mounting option and she needs two……… we need it unlocked……… I need to pay the added damage and repair insurance each month that is not covered (that is alone 75$ a month on a 17000 device) but she can talk and communicate with her outside world….. Something she has never done before accept with only her eyes. She can tell us what hurts, that she loves us and she has been playing an amazingly great game of UNO with her siblings.
I am thrifty…….. We coupon…we shop Aldi’s, we eat at home most of the time……. I combine family visits with trips…I know the free list of prescription drugs off the back of my hand… I use Craig’s list, 2nd hand and good will the majority of the kids clothes, and shop her medical equipment off eBay and other sites…….
We need a new roof…….estimates range from 16K to 24K………… I put a lot into our driveway modification and redo, and ramp and there is none left. I borrowed from our 401K to remodel the kitchen and upstairs to make it easier for Sarah’s wheel chair and to prevent accidents with the ventilator and chair in one room and Sarah in another and other children tripping. BUT I need to insulate to fix and help offset our electric bill estimates fro 2500 to 7500$ , this does not includes new windows, and ours are over 30 years old and some really are not even windows – just glass panes the previous owner put in with silicone. Our window estimates were well over 20K with installation. I have to modify and eventually get a lift system throughout our home cause 48 lb/ 45” tall children …. they just keep growing and well I just keep getting older. We need emergency lighting in the home to buy me time in the event of fire to get all our other children out safely, and we really need a whole house backup generator in case of power outage.
I worry and panic at every storm or snow prediction and prayed that roof would make it to next year with all the rain the last few weeks.……put buckets under the part of the roof/window unit I have had fixed twice that still needs to be completely revised and prayed for the rain to stop.
I keep thinking I got stuff and then something else breaks or we get set back cause we have a new expense of insurance or medical need or there is job change. My stress level over money, school. The kids future and all that and trying to do it all alone is either going to make me sick or have an actual heart attack .
After discussing this with a few of my close friends and people who know us…….. This is option we can find that could help because last thing any of them want is to be asking for money to bury me and keep the family going. They are all sure that it would take 17 people to do the work I do in a week. I mostly believe them, but I do know that the added stress of leaking roofs or fear the septic pump will break again or that the fact they repair man told me that was the last time the heating air unit could be repaired……. Is really true.
So a few people suggested I try this cause they always have people who ask if I need anything, and I have always said no. Infact I have managed to adopt and pay for all our adoptions and keep this house flowing on one income for years and this was something Eric and I prided ourselves on. But I can’t keep it up any longer and well I am asking for help to continue to help and provide love for all my children and have a place Sarah and her siblings can grow and love and be here together for as long as we have to be a family of eleven.
Thanks
Jane, Eric, Colin, Devon, Melea, Adrian, Eliza, Miranda, Jordan, Emerson, Sarah and Bear Dog aka the Smith's of Wildwood MO
Our children range in age from 4 year to fifteen, and many of them have special needs. Our family represents a variety of ethnic backgrounds, ability levels and is a combination of three biological and six adopted children, as well as Eric and myself. Our children represent many medical diagnoses and different disabilities ….some of them have more than one…. Down Syndrome, Autism, ADD, ADHD, ODD, Type One Diabetes, Epilepsy, Visual impairment, Fragile X and severe Cerebral Palsy. Some of them were adopted privately, some were adopted from foster care and some of our children are our biological offspring, but one thing all nine of them have in common is a love for each other that knows no bounds!!!!! These children are one family…they know it and making that happen has been no small job…. (Ok well it has been my full time job for the last 15 years)….. But when you meet them you can see how much they love and are interdependent on each other and reveal in each other’s successes and share the pain of failure.
We became a family of eleven when we adopted Sarah from a wonderful agency in Kansas n 2011. They were sure that Sarah would have cerebral palsy due to her severe birth trauma. But the needs and things she required changed dramatically the first year of life than what was even predicted. What I thought would be minor modifications have become game and lifestyle and have made even larger growing chasms between our life and most of the lives of our friends.
This required many lifestyle changes and many more added responsibilities for ALL of us, but our family has an abundance of many things…. we have a lot of love ,creativity, energy, excitement, enthusiasm, and to share all those things daily with Sarah and our others is my goal….. And we do!
We have kept going since she needed her ventilator and all her additional equipment to continue her life. But being the family for Sarah has come at a high price physically and emotionally and finacially for all my children and my husband.
I have to admit we need help…….I need help. We have slowly remodeled our home…… to make it easier for Sarah and all the children. But we are coming to an end of the things I can do without help.
In keeping up with Sarah we have let other important things go, to many important things! And none of this covers the items we still need for Sarah either. These are things that let her live and communicate and participate in our life and the world around us.
I can’t keep going at the stress level we have had over money. Sarah is an expensive child. She has a huge amount added costs that insurance does not and never will cover. Some of our added costs of a child with as many needs as Sarah. Include ncreased electric bills (We have have 200 to 300 dollars a month just in added electrical costs due to her ventilators and other equipment. on all day and night). Sarah 's wheel chair required a ramp to be built on our home that was at a cost of almost $13,000. We have had to modify our van with a lift and seats, but that reduced the number of children we could transport at a time. So we purchased in 2012 an older bus with a lift. We are almost done paying on our bus (16 more months) with its wheel chair space and ability to travel with all the children in one vehicle.
Both the van and the bus need major repairs before we all take Sarah’s Make a wish trip in March. I try to make sure all my children have what they need and enjoy life and participate in many activities. We all go and embrace life and play and have fun……. Even when we are facing adversity or medical needs that tie us to an area around our home of about 10 miles most of the time for her safety?
In keeping up with Sarah we have let other important things go, to many important things! And none of this covers the items we still need for Sarah either. These are things that let her live and communicate and participate in our life and the world around us. Roof, septic, needed updated electrical & emergency lighting, a whole house generator and all those things that an old house needs to be the forever home to six special needs children that are slowly becoming adults with disabilities. I need and want them to be able to call our hous ehome as they age and Eric and I to continue to care for them.
And none of this covers the items we still need for Sarah either. These are things that let her live and communicate and participate in our life and the world around us. She is going to need a new stander, which insurance has turned down twice. I want her to get this amazing augmentative communication device we have been trialing. Insurance will hopefully pick up a good portion…… but we only get one mounting option and she needs two……… we need it unlocked……… I need to pay the added damage and repair insurance each month that is not covered (that is alone 75$ a month on a 17000 device) but she can talk and communicate with her outside world….. Something she has never done before accept with only her eyes. She can tell us what hurts, that she loves us and she has been playing an amazingly great game of UNO with her siblings.
I am thrifty…….. We coupon…we shop Aldi’s, we eat at home most of the time……. I combine family visits with trips…I know the free list of prescription drugs off the back of my hand… I use Craig’s list, 2nd hand and good will the majority of the kids clothes, and shop her medical equipment off eBay and other sites…….
We need a new roof…….estimates range from 16K to 24K………… I put a lot into our driveway modification and redo, and ramp and there is none left. I borrowed from our 401K to remodel the kitchen and upstairs to make it easier for Sarah’s wheel chair and to prevent accidents with the ventilator and chair in one room and Sarah in another and other children tripping. BUT I need to insulate to fix and help offset our electric bill estimates fro 2500 to 7500$ , this does not includes new windows, and ours are over 30 years old and some really are not even windows – just glass panes the previous owner put in with silicone. Our window estimates were well over 20K with installation. I have to modify and eventually get a lift system throughout our home cause 48 lb/ 45” tall children …. they just keep growing and well I just keep getting older. We need emergency lighting in the home to buy me time in the event of fire to get all our other children out safely, and we really need a whole house backup generator in case of power outage.
I worry and panic at every storm or snow prediction and prayed that roof would make it to next year with all the rain the last few weeks.……put buckets under the part of the roof/window unit I have had fixed twice that still needs to be completely revised and prayed for the rain to stop.
I keep thinking I got stuff and then something else breaks or we get set back cause we have a new expense of insurance or medical need or there is job change. My stress level over money, school. The kids future and all that and trying to do it all alone is either going to make me sick or have an actual heart attack .
After discussing this with a few of my close friends and people who know us…….. This is option we can find that could help because last thing any of them want is to be asking for money to bury me and keep the family going. They are all sure that it would take 17 people to do the work I do in a week. I mostly believe them, but I do know that the added stress of leaking roofs or fear the septic pump will break again or that the fact they repair man told me that was the last time the heating air unit could be repaired……. Is really true.
So a few people suggested I try this cause they always have people who ask if I need anything, and I have always said no. Infact I have managed to adopt and pay for all our adoptions and keep this house flowing on one income for years and this was something Eric and I prided ourselves on. But I can’t keep it up any longer and well I am asking for help to continue to help and provide love for all my children and have a place Sarah and her siblings can grow and love and be here together for as long as we have to be a family of eleven.
Thanks
Jane, Eric, Colin, Devon, Melea, Adrian, Eliza, Miranda, Jordan, Emerson, Sarah and Bear Dog aka the Smith's of Wildwood MO
Organizer
Jane Leahy-Smith
Organizer
Eureka, MO
