Rising Hope Gives Parents a New Outlook on Life by Taylor

Rising Hope Gives Parents a New Outlook on Life by Taylor - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

I started volunteering for Rising Hope during the summer of 2011. Rising Hope is a nonprofit therapeutic equine riding center. This facility allows kids and adults of all ages to experience the joy of riding horses while learning and overcoming obstacles as well. Currently, there are about 6-8 clients involved in this program. All of these clients have either down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, etc. The programs volunteers and staff work together to help strengthen the physical and mental aspects of the individuals.

Throughout my years volunteering at Rising Hope, I have had the chance to meet many families and connect with them. A girl with down syndrome, Ivy, has been coming weekly in the summer to ride her horse, Red. Ivy has sensory issues and this makes it difficult for her to let people touch her, but her connection with Red is different. She pets him, hugs him and even gives him kisses. This relationship with her horse has allowed her mindset to change, she is now more open to giving hugs to volunteers, like me.

There are so many touching stories I could write about, but they all gave the other volunteers, staff and me the same idea. We decided to put together a fundraiser to bring in the community and give them the opportunity to tell others about Rising Hope. The princess ball fundraiser was held for the first time last year and we hope to continue this for many more years. At this ball anyone is welcome to bring their child, dressed as any princess or prince, and spend the day with the princess. Here they can get their makeup done, have their nails painted, have their hair done and dance with the princess and princes. All profits go to Rising Hope so that they can make the facility bigger and bring in more clients.

The reaction that we got from this fundraiser was outstanding. The parents were on board with how Rising Hope was helping the children and adults participating in their program. This made me feel good about myself that I was a part of something that was changing parents lives. If you know anyone that has a child with a disability, you may know how hard it is to raise that child. There are hard decisions and that takes a lot of out the parents. I am glad that I can give those parents hope that someone cares enough to help them and help their child as well. I want to continue helping parents of disabled children as I go on with my life. These parents are overjoyed with the response their child gives by coming to Rising hope and the fundraiser helps bring in more clients and volunteers. The fundraiser also helps other parents realize to look at life differently. What if their child had been born with a disability?