We are Jeff and Tracy. Our 5 children are Kaylee, Kelsey, Mariah, Marisa, and Davin. Three of our five kiddos have significant special needs of varying diagnosis.
I would like to share with you about what Habitat for Hope has meant to our family. I think the best way to tell you about Davin.
When Davin was 8 months old he suffered from Herpes Encephalitis. He quickly went from suffering to survivor, as it was a miracle he lived through it! Davin spent a couple of years in foster care before coming home to us. Davin was our foster son for a year before we adopted him at almost 7 years old. After much hard work, commitment, determination, perseverance, and love… we went from a kid wearing diapers, having horrible rages, no boundaries, running away, no sign language, etc. etc. to the little man he is today. Today Davin is a 10 year old young man who is all boy! He loves to play outside and climb trees. He loves anything that even slightly resembles a sword, and will beat on anything he comes across with it. He has a smile that lights up the room.
Davin struggled with seizures and they began to increase until he was not able to get through a single day without falling multiple times from “drop attacks”. We headed to Memphis, a city we knew nothing about in order to try to get help and hope for our son. Our son spent several days in the Epilepsy Unit, and endured all kinds of tests. At the end of it all we found out some pretty tough information about the severity of Davin’s illness. We were told that Davin’s best chance of decreasing his drop attacks were to allow him to have brain surgery.
In all of the chaos of the situation I began to worry about how we would pay for another week in Memphis. We had 4 of our 5 children with us, and were in a one room motel on the other side of town in a not so great area. I prayed that God would work out the details of this situation as we were putting our faith in him. I then contacted the social worker and asked for some help. I began to have fear and doubt, until she told us about Habitat for Hope! The light at the end of a long, scary, dark tunnel! That very night, Mo came out to talk with us and offer us a SAFE place to stay, and only a mile from the hospital!
The apartment was wonderful! It meant so much to us to have a safe place to be, and only 5 minutes away from our son. As much as the apartment meant, the kindness of strangers meant so much more. I cannot adequately express in words how I felt the next day when both Mo and Tona showed up. I had been in so much fear about what my son was going through. I felt so alone with all of the news that we had just found out about Davin. There was no one to hold my husband and I and walk us through it all, or to tell us it would be okay. The kindness, warmth, and friendship that they have shown us has been overwhelming! Since that day, and several visits later, we no longer view them as strangers, but as friends!
We have a long road ahead of us with Davin. Since his type of epilepsy is progressive, we will need to continue to come to Memphis to treat Davin. This means we will be making several trips back to our now home away from home. We are so thankful that we have found a place of respite in Habitat for Hope, and our new friends/ extended family Mo and Tona. It truly does mean hope for the families who may have no other place to turn during their time of need. It may be the one place that allows them to keep going when they may feel to weak to continue. Habitat for Hope is just that.
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