12 Days of Stories: Support JMCC this 2021 Holiday Season
December 1, 2021
Happy Holidays from all of us here at the John McGivney Children’s Centre. We are proud to serve Windsor and Essex County, enriching the lives of children and youth with special needs by helping them reach their full potential.
The John McGivney Children’s Centre is so very grateful for our donors and their giving hearts that continue to put others first.
At this time of year, we are counting on the generosity of our community and asking for donations to our 12 Days of Giving Campaign.
Because of you, we continue to do remarkable things for our children and youth with special needs, helping them reach their full potential. During our holiday giving campaign, we will be sharing stories to show just how much the power of your generosity can change lives.
Meet Max
Maxie was born prematurely at 27 weeks, for reasons we have no answers to. He arrived with only a heartbeat by emergency C-section. He was saved by the amazing NICU staff who he stayed with for 3 months. After coming home we were soon connected with John McGivney. Max has low muscle tone, and delays with speech, gross, and fine motor skills. We work with PT, OT, and Speech. Bonnie, Louise, and Dragana are wonderful! They love Max and we feel that! Max continues to grow and learn and get stronger with each passing day. These ladies have been here for Max and for us as a family and for this, we are extremely grateful! We love you, JMCC! - The Bakic’s
Meet William
Our William is a sweet, silly 2 1/2 year old with Down Syndrome. We first met the JMCC team when he was 2 months old. They've walked with us through his changing needs, and cheered with us for all his (literal) steps and accomplishments. Our team members Kristin, Louise and Dragana go above and beyond to inform, guide, support and help us advocate for William. They are always available to answer our questions, and ready with tools and resources to help William learn and thrive. He loves his physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions, and we always appreciate the practical advice we receive. We are ever thankful for the dedication and genuine support JMCC has provided for our family. – Tina and Matt
Meet Alleni
JMCC helped me a lot and when my daughter Alleni was just 1 year old. Now she is 15 and JMCC still helps me. Social workers are beside me all the time and help me with everything I need, and it feels like I am not alone. I am so happy with all the help I get from JMCC. - Kim Yen Thai
Meet Madalayna
We wouldn't be where we are today without the help of JMCC.
Madalayna was diagnosed at 5 months old with a rare genetic disease called Malignant Infantile Osteopetrosis. JMCC met with us almost immediately after our lengthy hospital stays. We started right way in 2017 with two wonderful ladies. Julie our Occupational Therapist and Linda our Physical Therapist. With the help of these two ladies and the support and tools given to us they helped Madalayna in leaps and bounds. Madalayna is now a happy 5 year old girl who goes to school and is doing amazing for what she has been through. She would have a different story if we didn't have JMCC in our corner with us and we are truly grateful for their services. Tamara Ducharme, momma
Meet Ezra
Ezra has a genetic disorder called Galloway-Mowat Syndrome. We didn’t find this out until later in Ezras life. Ezra will be 4 in May, and he was 9 months old when we started our JMCC journey. Our first appointment was with the amazing Marie O’Neil. That appointment was a life-changing day for our whole family. Marie was the first person to really listen and help me get answers that nobody else could give us. From that day forward, we never felt like we were alone in this ever again. We finally had a team, a family, with JMCC. - Melissa Weingust, mom
Meet Josiah
Not only were they there for our Josiah, they were there for us as a family. Bonnie our Physiotherapist has been with Josiah since almost day one, and now he’s four years old. We’ve also worked with Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Social Workers and so many of JMCC staff. To say we are grateful is an understatement. We will never have enough words to say thank to our JMCC family. Thank, thank you and as we say in my local Swahili language Asante sana!! - Lucy Nganga, mom
Meet Maya
We were introduced to the amazing staff at JMCC prior to the birth of Maya, when we discovered she wouldn’t be the typical newborn. Maya was born with a rare genetic syndrome, and with 3 other children at home we didn’t know how we were going to manage all of the different feelings and stress we would face, and we were scared of the road ahead. One year and 19 doctors/specialists later, we couldn’t have done all we have to support Maya’s growth and development without the help of JMCC. This is a Centre I turn to often for help, answers and assistance. Thank you JMCC for everything you do for our family, and all the families that are part of your programs. The children will excel because of your continued dedication. – Amanda, mom
Meet Dash
The incredible staff at JMCC have become like family to us. I truly owe Dash’s therapists my life because I don’t know where he would be without them. Dash became involved with John McGivney right after his first birthday. He has HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), Cerebral Palsy, and global developmental delay. He is 6 years old now and thriving. Mackenzie, mom
Meet Huda
Our daughter Huda received cochlear implant surgery in London in August, and they were activated in September. Our wonderful Speech-Language Pathologist Agapi Varacalli has been working with Huda since then. The hard part for me was the language barrier because I don’t speak English but everyone here made sure that everything was taken care of, and they work through a very nice lady Maram Kayali who is my interpreter. – Fatima Al Shaaban, Huda’s mom.
Meet Jakub
Jakub started his services at JMCC after his long struggle with cancer and stem cell transplant. We were welcomed with open arms. He has been involved with OT/PT and SLP services. Louise was a lifesaver. Jakub was very underweight with strong oral and food aversions and she gave us easy and helpful instructions that helped Jakub gain weight and have a more positive feeding experience. It feels so comforting to have a team who supports us as a whole, so we can focus on what’s important. – Dr. Joanna Starczewski, mom
Meet Nicky
Nicky is a 12 year old boy who was recently diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a brain cancer. Nicky needed help with walking and running again. Also, his left hand just wasn’t the same after his brain tumour removal surgery. JMCC has been a life-saver for him! This is Nicky’s second time working with JMCC. They helped him as a toddler when he was diagnosed with a speech disorder Childhood Apraxia of Speech. In times of need, JMCC has really been there for our family and we couldn’t be more thankful. The staff truly care and they advocated for Nicky whenever it was needed. We cannot thank you enough! - The Kantarjian Family
Meet Grayson
My handsome son Grayson will be 4 in January. He was born with a rare disorder called Arthrogryposis. He is also nonverbal. We first started receiving the help of JMCC when he was just a tiny little baby. Grayson has 3 amazing therapists, Louise OT, Kristin PT, and Dragana SLP that are frequently involved to help better all of his abilities. They are all truly so caring, kind and professional with Grayson and I. They have helped me in so many ways with Gray and even emotional support for us along the way. They have become family, and I don’t know what I would do without their guidance and knowledge with helping Grayson progress in any way that they can. We are so thankful for JMCC!!! - Britt Berthiaume, Mom
Return to News