Raindancer Jarius loves to smile and has a great sense of humor. He loves listening to music, especially Bruno Mars, and he can spend hours people watching through his front storm door.
Jarius is 16 and completely dependent on his family to move around his house. When his mom, Felisha had back surgery, she could no longer lift him in and out of his wheelchair to move him throughout the house. His two older brothers are amazing, and help their mom every chance they get, but earlier this year, she was faced with the decision to have to put Jarius into a facility for round-the-clock care if she could not find a ceiling lift to assist in moving him in his own home.
Felicia tried to get a lift through insurance, but there was so much red tape; she was told it could take up to six months to clear and even if it did, they couldn’t provide what Jarius needed, nor could they cover the expense in a manageable way. She would still have to figure out how to pay for half of the lift out of pocket.
But the insurance company also told Felisha about a non-profit called The Sweet Julia Grace Foundation who might be able to help (and we are so glad they did).
During a conversation between Felisha and Sara, Felisha tearfully shared how this kind of answer has been a common occurrence throughout Jarius's life. Often, when she reaches out to the resources she counts on for help, she is either told it will take time to get the need approved, or simply, no. When families are told no, they can appeal, but it usually takes months for them to rule on the appeal and often the answer is unfortunately, still no.
"After listening to Felisha share her desperate need for a ceiling lift to lift her growing son by herself, without putting more strain on her back, I was so happy and honored to be able to say to her, 'This is why we are here, you don’t have to wait 6 months, we’ll take care of it. We got you,'" Sara said.
In other words, YES, our answer is YES!
Within two weeks, Jarius had his life-changing
ceiling lift installed.
Jarius & His New Swing
The Sweet Julia Grace Foundation tries to help not only with what Raindancers need, but also with what they want by giving gifts that will bring joy and provide lots of smiles.
"COVID has had a huge impact on my son emotionally and physically...we had to keep him home, and isolated for a year and a half just to keep him safe from COVID. One day he was sitting at the door with tears coming down his face...he just looked so sad," Felisha said.
Jarius likes movement, so when another local family donated a therapy swing to SJGF, it only made since to gift it to him. The swing needed to picked up, cleaned up and set up, but thanks to SJGF Volunteers, every piece fell into place perfectly and now Jarius has something to look forward to that will get him outside, and help him dance in the rain, every single day!