JACOB'S FUND :: Why?

Kyle and sister Kaylie

As a charitable organization, The Red Thread Promise works hard to let others know exactly what we do: helping needy children with disabilities in the United States through Jacob’s Fund. We do our best to explain hippotherapy – a new term to many – and how therapy delivered on a horse opens new worlds for children, far beyond the limits of therapy in a clinical setting. We often speak of the bond between the child and the horse.

Today we’d like to focus on our deepest reason for why we do what we do: small victories.  We rejoice in the milestones of physical development that each child reaches; we’re brought to tears when a child speaks for the first time; and we whoop with joy when a wheelchair-bound kid takes steps on his own.

Kyle, a Jacob’s Fund ridership recipient, loves his horse and his hippotherapy sessions. His excitement is palpable when he steps out of the car at Hilltop Equestrian Center and heads straight for the barn. His vocalization has improved, and he’s able to stay on task longer during hippotherapy sessions. These are some of the physical, observable changes. Kyle’s accomplishments come close to the heart of why we do what we do at Jacob’s Fund.  

But outward signs don’t tell the whole story.  

The real story is told inside families, in the everyday events with moms and dads and brothers and sisters whose lives are entwined with these special children, children like Kyle.  

Buddies

We think these photos says more than any words we could write. They give a tiny glimpse into Kyle’s world with his family and underline why we all work together to bring hope and healing to kids like him.  

Kyle's family

Kyle’s parents shared this photo and message with us:

Occasionally Kaylie asks to sleep with her bubby as she did tonight, and this is how I found them sleeping. So precious! She is at times saddened, of course, with Kyle's disabilities, but I'm so proud of her. She's wise beyond her years and cares for him almost like a mother.

Here, in the heart of a family, we are reminded of a scrap of scripture: that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly.

Helping children have a more abundant life – yes, that’s what Jacob’s Fund is all about.