BEYOND $200K! The First Milestone...

A treat with dad..

Anwen, Mahalah, and Gideon Read are our 8 year old triplets with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy. It's a non-degenerative type, but they will be reliant on power wheelchairs for life. 

Yet, they are 'normal' kids, with a normal life expectancy, and are in Year 3 at our local public school...

Anwen in her standing frame at school...

As most people know, my husband and I are their full-time carers: it's a full-time job! And, although we have some equity in our current little house, we are unable to work much, and have little to loan against. So, as much as our children really need an accessible house that fully enables them, we have been unable to build it on our own.

When we started fundraising in March last year, our initial goal of $200K towards building our 'miracle house' seemed like a huge amount. Instead, in the last year, we have been blown away by the amazing generosity of hundreds of people!

So we are incredibly excited to now announce that we have recently topped this initial target of $200K! This has been boosted lately by the efforts of an incredible group of about 60 Canowindra locals, young and old, who completed the City2Surf in Sydney recently, and raised a massive $40K towards the house! The house funds now stand at approximately $250K-and rising every week! 

Above: the amazing Canowindra team 'Raising a Roof' at the recent City2Surf in Sydney.

We would like to say a huge 'Thank You!' to everyone, throughout all the wider communities towns, and countries, who have helped our family reach this amazing goal! It ensures we can now

start building a completely accessible home for the kids, and get it to a basic lock-up stage.

We have been quite overwhelmed by the support we have received at times. It's given us courage and hope. Anwen, Mahalah and Gideon are excited, and constantly look forward to the things they will be able to do for themselves “when we are in the new house...”

(Above: another amazing community fundraiser. The recent 'monster garage sale' at Springwood, Blue Mountains, which Toni, Mike, and friends from their local church community, organised! They raised over $8K in one day.)

Thanks to the achievement of our initial $200K goal, we are daring to dream about a finished home for the kids, and living in it possibly even sooner than we expected!

But, anyone who has built a house knows, it takes time and money. And lots of both.

We are now looking ahead, praying for more courage and hope, as we face the next target: completing the 'miracle house' to a liveable stage. For this, the next goal is to reach $450K. This will ensure a semi-complete 'fit-out', but without some of the special equipment needed to care for Anwen, Mahalah and Gideon, (i.e. ceiling hoists).
We estimate that a further $100K on top of this will mean that we can begin to live in the 'miracle house', sooner rather than later. This is Stage 1 of the build. 

Once we have completed Stage 1, and are living in the house, we will look towards the Stage 2 of the build, which includes an indoor hydrotherapy pool, to help maintain the kids limited muscle strength. For now though, the priority is Stage 1; completing the main part of the house, and being able to move into it. It would be a dream-come-true if we can be in before winter sets in again, next year.

What to wear on a wet winters day..

For now, we continue to wait for the completion of plans and paperwork required for council approval, and then the earthworks can commence. Stay tuned for that happy day!

Our grateful thanks once again, to everyone who has helped us reach this amazing $200K milestone! We deeply value all the support, prayers and encouragement.
It really does 'take a community to raise a child'.

Jem Read,
on behalf of the family.

P.S- If you are reading this on an IOS device you won't be able to see the 'Donate' button that shows on the full web version.
 If you would like to donate and help us build our 'miracle house' -thank you very much! Head to the web version, or, our account details are:

Bank: NAB Canowindra.

Acc Name: B & J Read Triplets Special Needs.

BSB: 082 500

Acc Number: 396 905 753

Thank you again!

Building the Miracle House in 2015?

January is growing old and 2015 is definitely here. Unfortunately, it seems like it's time to shake off the holiday sloth and get back to everyday life..! 

Hot holiday afternoons inside..

What are your goals for 2015? 

Ours are simple: care for our three rambunctious wheelchair-bound 8 year olds, hold onto each other, oh, and build a fully accessible house. 

A noisy game of 'rounding up the (pink) sheep'!

Update on the 'Miracle House' project:

So far we have about $82,000 in donations in the Miracle House account, and about $25,000 in pledged building products. 

Our initial estimated fundraising goal is $200,000; although this could change depending on costs, and whether we can get a loan to cover the remaining cost of building.

We have been very blessed to have building designer Dick Clarke from Envirotecture http://www.envirotecture.com.au donating his efforts to draw up plans for our difficult design brief. Recently we agreed on some preliminary plans which will fit our three kids, wheelchairs and all, and their long term special needs. We love Dicks work and we are excited to see the new house taking shape- on paper at least! 

Taking shape! (North is top of page, LDK: lounge, dining, kitchen. G: guest, ST: study, L2: 2nd lounge/kids space. All sized carefully to be completely accessible. Stage 2 is an indoor therapy pool.)

On our new block- one day the house will be in the distance behind us!

The next steps will involve getting ready to build! We hope to start building by June, but we would like to be closer to our fundraising goal before we embark on this massive project.

What do you hope to see when you look back on 2015 this time next year? 

As well as looking back on a year of deepening growth and love, we hope to look back on a year where we were able to build a house where our children are able to move freely, without feeling like they are constantly in the way. 

Wheelchair inflicted damage is common in our tight house.

Where do you hope to be this time next year? 

We dream of being in a home that fits our kids and enables them to grow in confidence and independence, a blessing to others.

We hope 2015 is a good one for you too! 

We'd love for you to get involved in our adventure this year, simply by sharing our story with others, (perhaps by sharing this blog link). Or join our journey by visiting our new Facebook page, 'Realising For The Read Triplets'
https://www.facebook.com/realising4thereadtriplets. 
We'd love to hear from you! 

Thanks so much to all those who have already shared and helped us out so generously- bless you!

PS: For those interested in promoting our cause in a more intentional way, I can post a handful of A6 postcards, printed with the above photo of us on our block, as well as all the necessary details about the 'miracle house' project printed on the backs! Simply comment below and I will be in touch.

Thanks again, we are very grateful to everyone involved in this 'barn raising'! xo