Anna Miller :: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

The Long’s seven-year-old son Anthony suffered a stroke during birth that caused him severe kidney, liver, & brain damage.  The stroke has confined Anthony mostly to his wheelchair, which, unfortunately, does not maneuver well in the tight spaces of his current home.  In fact, Anthony’s limited wheelchair mobility prevents him the freedom to fully join the family in their daily activities.  ”To be able to use the wheelchair in the house would be so much easier,” says Anthony’s mom Rosie.  ”With not having the room to put a wheelchair in the house, he doesn’t get to interact with us the way [the other kids] do.” (Watch this heartwarming video to learn more about the challenges Anthony & the Long Family face every day.)

Thankfully, through community support organized by the generous efforts of the Samantha’s House Foundation, the Long Family will soon be able to enjoy a brand new, accessible home.  The new home near Indianapolis will help immensely with the family’s day-to-day challenges and provide the entire family with the best possible environment for their special needs.

• Sim Nabors, thank you for bringing this opportunity to RATIO.  We are so lucky to have been able to help.
• Casey May, thank you for the MAJOR effort of hauling Joey’s furniture from Fort Wayne.
• Tracy Imes, thank you for all the “little girl” tips – they were invaluable.
• Heather Worrell, thank you for finding the Target “Circo” brand and the painfully cute hedgehog bean bag.
• Kim Nordhoff, thank you for your mad ribbon-applying abilities (and for running errands & feeding us on installation day).
• Mara Braspenninx, thank you for your incredible fabric talents (the room wouldn’t be the same without those fabric-wrapped drawers & the matching curtain/pillow combo).
• Jen Higginbotham, thank you for the knitted pink elephant (and for being a great helper!).
• Melissa Kleinschmidt, thank you to you & your mom for the wonderful hand-appliqued pillows, and for the lovely flowery comfortor!
• Brooke Funkhouser, thank you for your “on-the-spot” bubble-stenciling problem-solving.
• Brittany Brown, thank you for being master of spray paint & lantern-hanger extraordinaire.
• Jackie Turner, thank you for being an excellent purchaser of paint.
• Annette Lang, thank you for heading up the office-wide “Early Reader Book Drive” for Joey’s library stash.

And finally, check out the awesome efforts of RATIO’s “Team Josephine” in the pics below (no peeking, Joey!).

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