$30,000!
Christopher's teeth have been neglected. He lost most of them while in institutional care between 2005 and 2016.
Christopher had a feeding tube installed in 2005 when he went into institutional care, and it appears that his teeth were neglected since he was not eating foods. He has returned to eating some normal foods (25% of his total calories), but still cannot drink due to inability to swallow liquids. He does produce an excessive amount of spittle which allows him to swallow foods.
Chris smile is his most immediate need which we do not have the fund for (there is $5,000 available through insurance and State programs) but he may not go to another Special Olympics with his power chair since the lift was barely able to take the chair this year and will not make another trip. A new lift is in the $3,000 dollar range but the trouble with using a lift makes it usage rare and troublesome. A van would be the beat solution but they are in the $50,000 range new and at least $20,000 for a used van in good condition.
We are doing well with our day to day care of Chris but are unable to come up with the funds needed for these high cost items.
If anyone has a question about this they can look at my history. I wrote a series on “This Week in Fascism” in late 2004. I led the GulfWatchers group while the Deepwater Horizons BOP was spilling oil into the Gulf and live video was available. I also volunteered to created the “radio” broadcast system Wink is still using today for some of the daily broadcasts still being produced.
Since I started caring for Chris, I have limited my community participation while still reading about a quarter of the Posts here each day.
My plan is to start a GoFundMe or use another fundraising platform. I will choose after input from the community.
Chris will still participate in Special Olympics with his, or a new, walker but will never obtain three medals each year. He is no longer capable of throwing a ball but can participate with his walker and power chair.
Suggestions and corrections are welcome.
There is also a special gift for every donation of $100 or more. I have thousands of “day in the life” videos which are from the archive of our security cameras and shows Chris’ Daily life and the donors may receive a unique video.
Some early videos are available on Youtube.