Belonging and Inclusion Aren’t Easily Found by Families Living With Disability

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!… For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”

Psalm 133:1, 3

Driving home from Family Retreat with her son, Buddy, Sheila wept tears of joy.

“I just can’t say enough about Family Retreat. I had high expectations, but Joni and Friends met every one, above and beyond what I could have ever imagined. My heart was so full!”

Sheila

At birth, Buddy weighed one pound and 11 ounces. Doctors told Sheila that Buddy would only live a few years at most. Yet last March, Buddy celebrated his 39th birthday.

“Buddy is 39 and he’s like a three-month-old,” Sheila says. Buddy is blind and has cerebral palsy. He can’t speak, uses a wheelchair, and receives his nourishment from a feeding tube.

Despite the hardships Buddy faces, Sheila is honored to be his mother. Even as his primary caregiver, she says that Buddy gives her more than she could ever give him.

But for Sheila and Buddy, like many families living with disability, belonging and inclusion don’t always come easily.

Some people turn away from Buddy, fearing that in his presence, they won’t know what to say or how to act.

Because of people’s responses, Sheila and Buddy often feel unwelcome when away from home and family. But at Family Retreat, they had an uncommon and deeply fulfilling experience. “Every day should be like that,” Sheila said about their Retreat experience.

Now, Sheila wants other families impacted by disability to know the same bonds of love and acceptance that she and Buddy found at Family Retreat. She has started getting her community involved with Joni and Friends and raises funds to provide Family Retreat scholarships to other families!