JACOB'S FUND :: Hilltop workday re-scheduled

Jacob's Fund Director, Glenna, and Amayzzing at Hilltop Equestrian Center

With a number of commitments pressing on Hilltop, plus the prediction for rain on Saturday, Hilltop has decided to postpone their work day for May 10th. We will let you know as soon as we have the new date! Thank you to all who have shown interest in joining us. We look forward to working with you at a later date!

Jacob’s Fund :: Work Day at Hilltop Equestrian Center

Jacob's Fund Director, Glenna (center), surrounded by Hilltop staff

Spring on a horse farm in Ohio is the gurgle of a stream winding through a meadow, all-legs foals kicking in a breeze that carries birdsong from a nearby stand of forest, and grass so impossibly green you kneel to touch it to make sure it’s real.

If you’d like to experience a morning like this, come join us on Saturday, May 10, from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at Hilltop Equestrian Center, 4051 U.S. Rt. 35, West Alexandria, Ohio. That’s the day that Jim Hazelwood, Amy Day, and the staff and therapists at Hilltop have set aside to spruce up the farm after the long, cold Ohio winter.  

We’ll receive our assignments and get to work on a beautiful horse farm and barn where kids with disabilities enjoy hippotherapy and therapeutic riding in a warm, loving atmosphere. Following our morning labors, we will gather with the Hilltop “family” for food and fellowship at 1:00 p.m.

If you’ve longed to be part of one of our mission trips but have not been able to commit the time for a trip out of the country or for a long weekend, this is quite possibly the ideal experience for you to “get your feet wet” in a mission experience.  

Please join us in this hands-on experience that helps ensure that the children we sponsor have the best possible experience as they gain the strength and skills to live their lives as fully as possible.

No need to RSVP. 

Just show up on the morning of the 10th and be ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work. 

Inside the Hilltop stable

JACOB'S FUND :: The benefits of equine therapy

Cameron and Landon

Over the years, we’ve witnessed some pretty amazing things. Time and time again, the silken red thread has brought people from all walks of life together to help children in need. We love sharing these stories with you, but no story is quite as good as being there in person, to better understand something to the fullest.

That’s why we’ve created a new video about hippotherapy: to help our supporters better understand how life-changing equine therapy can be for children. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video must be worth at least 1,000,000. 



In the video, you'll hear Cameron and Landon's mother, Melissa, share her boys progress since they began hippo therapy. Recently, she also sent this update: 

Both boys are now potty trained! Cameron is learning to read and write this year. He is almost completely independent and thriving. Landon has recently learned to answer questions and understands yes and no. I am very close to having a conversation with him. The other day he brought me some play food and asked me if I was hungry. I almost fell off the couch! It was the best play food I have ever eaten and a moment I will hold dear to my heart. He has learned to read his name first and last and is singing about 5 songs. We are forever blessed to have had help along this journey and are eternally grateful to The Red Thread Promise. To God be the Glory! ~ Melissa

JACOB'S FUND :: Talking at Last!

While most children utter their first word when they’re around a year old, Christopher’s first words came when he was eleven: "horse, trot fast". Not your typical first words, but his mother, Felicia, was ecstatic to hear them!

Felicia, Christopher, and his brother, ready for therapy

Christopher’s severely autistic. He’s thirteen now, and he has been dealing with his diagnosis since he was a toddler.

His symptoms became apparent before his third birthday, and Felicia immediately began searching for help for him. Fortunately, she found Babies Can’t Wait, a Georgia Department of Health program for infants up to three years old with special needs. Thus began their journey on the road that is so familiar to thousands of families: the constant search for help for a child.

For families like Christopher’s, life assumes a new rhythm with the diagnosis: therapy several times each week, frequent and multiple doctors’ appointments.

While therapy may look simple to a typically developing person, it is hard work for children. Kids with disabilities often spend hours each week making their bodies develop new skills, skills that do not come naturally to them. For many children, therapy is temporary. Within a few months, or perhaps a couple of years, the problem is resolved and the child is back on track developmentally. For kids like Christopher, therapy becomes part of life and continues for many years, on into adulthood.

Hippotherapy requires riding backward too

Thankfully, resources and services for young special needs kids can be quite good. However, just like many other parents in this same situation, Felicia found out that as her son grew older, those resources dwindle dramatically. She found herself as a single mom dealing with two boys, facing the challenges of a special needs child and footing devastating medical expenses on her own.

After eight years of clinical therapy, Christopher’s doctor decided to take a new approach, and prescribed hippotherapy for this budding teenager. Felicia found McKenna Farms and Christopher began equine therapy.

And he began to talk.

What a milestone for a family whose child has never spoken a word! Their world changed in an instant. Now, when Christopher wants to go out, he can say “shoes.” If he needs a shower, he says “wash-wash.” When it’s time to go the bathroom, he can tell his mom “flush toilet.”

After two successful years of hippotherapy, Christopher has graduated to therapeutic riding, which will help him maintain and improve flexibility, balance, and muscle strength. In order to maintain continuous progress, consistent weekly therapy is vital. Felicia is able to pay for one therapeutic riding session a month. Jacob’s Fund underwrites the other three sessions each month to ensure uninterrupted therapy for Christopher, to maximize his potential.

Christopher and his brother with Stephanie, his therapist

Christopher’s speech triumph and the amazing and sometimes unexpected accomplishments of kids like him are what drive Jacob’s Fund‘s efforts. Your support makes it possible. We simply could not do this without you. 

Thank you.

JACOB'S FUND :: Simple gifts

Every human being wants to be loved. We all desire feeling accepted and valued by our families and those closest to us. 

Now imagine that your behaviors are so off-putting that even those you cherish most find it difficult to show you love. Take it one step further by imaging that you’re a child: your mind and body are still changing and developing; your capacity for understanding your own behaviors and how they affect those around you are limited. 

This is a typical story for one of Sharon’s Kids. Simply stated, their lives are very difficult. Many have been abused. Often they are in danger of harming themselves or others. Other forms of therapy have been unsuccessful. Then they meet Sharon, an intensive treatment behavioral health therapist, and they finally catch a glimpse of hope.

As a Red Thread Promise supporter, you may already know the story of the silken red thread of destiny. It is that invisible thread that connects those who are destined to be part of our lives, a thread that my tangle or stretch but never break. Sharon doesn’t simply hold onto the red thread of destiny; it’s tightly wrapped around her heart. In her work, she doesn’t just show these children that they are worthy of love; she helps them envision and achieve a more successful version of themselves. She brings HOPE, something many of these kids have never seen. 

As 2013 drew to a close, Sharon asked for The Red Thread’s partnership to help these hurting children and we accepted. Therapy for her young patients involves a rewards system—a proven motivator for these kids—that she has been paying for out-of-pocket, including simple rewards like: 

• having a friend over to play
• visits to the local shelter to play with the animals
• trips to parks and public library events
• small toys or stuffed animals
• drinks or meals at McDonald’s or Wendy’s
• trips to a bounce facility to play on blow up slides
• pottery painting
• bowling

Often, these outings provide a place for therapy, as the kids’ homes are often chaotic and crowded or have infestations making therapy in their own environment impossible.

With your help, The Red Thread Promise was able to supply gift cards so that Sharon could continue to reinforce good behaviors for children and teens that desperately need to see positive outcomes for positive behavior. Her young patients began benefitting from those gift cards right away! 

In the following posts, we will share some of Sharon’s stories with you. These are your simple gifts in action. Thank you.