Teacher Sarah needs roof over head

Sarah has a gift.  Hit by a drunk driver, she went on to help others.  She now needs our help.

     Sarah worked in my woman's clothing store, making all women feel empowered and beautiful.  She has given to our community in many ways over the years, as artist, teacher, and volunteer.  She now needs our help as she deals with the reprecussions of two accidents that have left her with ongoing pain and traumatic brain injury, unable to work and in need of a hand up.
     After Sarah's first accident, a climbing fall in Juneau, Alaska in 1992, she spent 3 months in the hospital with a broken back. Her three kids, ages 4, 5, and six, lived with neighbors as she recovered. But as a single mom, she went on to earn a degree in Fine Art at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wa. and start a preschool.
    Less than six months after graduating, she was riding home from work with another teacher, laughing and   sharing plans for Christmas. While waiting at a stoplight, a drunk driver plowed into the car at 45 miles per hour. Her head hit the windshield and her body slammed into the seats causing the seats to break and lay down flat. The car she was in was rammed into the three cars that were also at the stop light. The drunk driver was fine. For the first four months Sarah learned how to make her legs work again. It took a year and a half of physical and speech therapy to recover.
     Sarah has been a vibrant part of Olympia despite the accidents. In 2000, she started a preschool called Flower Child Day School. She had at the time recovered enough to run around with the kids and took them on field trips, believing that kids who engage with the world can change the world. She utilized her art degree in her teaching methods and went on to help others start their own daycare programs. She volunteered and helped seniors and low income youth. She also traveled and  volunteered with NGO's overseas working with orphans in street schools, brothels and impoverished areas of India, Nepal and Mongolia.
     But she struggled during those years to keep up.
     At first she laughed off her memory loss, but we at the boutique were worried.  Then she collapsed at work.  The reprecussions from the brain injuries are causing extreme cramping, memory loss, and dizziness.  Sarah no longer can work with us and we miss her tremendously.
     Luckily, when she collapsed she was living with her son, who had returned with his own massive back injuries from the Iraq war.  Her other son, who was in the war in Afganistan, is nearby too, but his wife is paralyzed from Lyme disease.  I know, it seems like too much to bear for any one family.  Now her housing is no longer available because her son will be moving to Illinois to help raise his sister's kids.  His sister, Sarah's youngest, is a single mom in college and stationed in the Air Force there. 
     With the kindness of some friends, Sarah recently acquired this old RV and plans to live in it.  Unfortunately, as winter is approaching, she has discovered some major leaks in the roof.  We are asking for help to hook up the electricity, fix the roof, get the generator working, and put groceries in the fridge until her disability can be arranged.  This could take up to a year.

Sarah, the woman who empowered so many others, needs us to come together and give a little.  Whatever you can.  It's tough times for us all, but if we all chip in, doing good for her is doing good for us all. 
Jeannine Kempees
owner Belleza Ropa
www.bellezaropa.com
Sarah is always full of sunshine, and ready to give a hug, even if things are not so sunny.
Sarah joins staff for a night of celebrating art.  We miss her now that she is unable to work.