When Debbi’s son was born premature and bleeding in his brain, the doctors gave him two weeks to live. Debbi has now been caring for him, along with the rest of her family, for 27 years. Debbi is not a stranger to hardship. Her husband was a career Marine and was...
With a background in special education, Veronica had wanted to take care of a child with special needs, and she was quickly matched with Elena, who has cerebral palsy. When Veronica married, she trained her sister Giselle to take her place as Elena’s carer, but still...
Gina cares for four people in total: two of her five children and both of her parents. Gina has a 14-year-old son with undiagnosed schizophrenia and diabetes, an 11-year-old son with autism, a father with heart disease, and a mother recovering from a brain tumor....
Rona lives in rural Oklahoma and is the mother of three children. Her youngest child is a 13-year-old with Down syndrome. Her daughter is non-verbal and has significant intellectual disabilities. She can’t be left unattended. Though Rona feels fortunate that she and...
Katie is the mother of a 20-year-old son born with physical and intellectual disabilities caused by a rare disease. The factors of her son’s care have been constantly changing, meaning the caregiving process has changed as well. As her son’s primary caregiver and...
