Dear Northwest Center Kids,

Our relationship started with NWC about 6 years ago. At the time, our family was struggling to get by. My daughter had KLS as well as Rheumatoid Arthritis. These two diseases made her sleep for days at a time, and when she was up, she could hardly move. They also made it nearly impossible to raise her two-year-old daughter.
 
I had been searching for quite a while to find help. It seems that there are nonprofit groups to help adults with disabilities and there are groups to help children with disabilities but there was no group that I could find that would help disabled adults take care of their children. As a family we were doing the best we could but it was incredibly hard. It was only by circumstance that our paths met.
 
My Granddaughter, *Erika, had hearing loss. By the age of two, we realized that she was speech delayed. Your school came out to evaluate her and set her up for therapy. It was through this initial process that we learned about the scholarships at NWC.
 
She was admitted with a very high scholarship. I cannot tell you the relief that this family felt I We had 8 hours a day where we not only felt that Erika was safe but that we knew she was flourishing. Before NWC, when her mother was having episodes, we would have to pass Erika off from person to person. She was always well cared for but the pressure of filling each day with care givers who would work for free was incredibly difficult.