Family Stories

2012

Jenny's Story
When the Aldridge family approached Giving in Action to help renovate their home to create an independent living space for their 23-year-old daughter Jenny, their situation was desperate. Read more

Stephanie's Story
At 18 years-old, Stephanie Cook has something most teens dream of - a perfect balance of independence and support from her parents, siblings and extended family. Read more

Ussay's Story
One of the first things Wali Khan says of his daughter, 14-year-old Ussay, is that she's "a very happy girl." A phone conversation with Ussay would lead most people to conclude the same thing; you can tell she's smiling as she speaks - even when she's yelling at her 15-year-old brother, Bubrak and 11-year-old sister, Muska to be quiet, stop bugging her, and please let her talk. Read more

Brendan's Story
In school, 15-year-old Brendan Phunal is every parent's dream - happy, popular and getting good grades. At home, he's affectionate and truly enjoys hanging out with his sisters, eight-year-old Samantha and 17-year-old Monika. Read more

Kale's Story
When Chelsea Schmelzel was only 21 weeks pregnant, she discovered, through a routine ultrasound, that her body was already preparing to deliver her baby. Doctors advised that bed rest was the only way to maintain her pregnancy. Read more

2010

Sasha's Voice
Sasha Cumby’s mom, Debbie, says her daughter was a typical 16-year-old. But asking what made Sasha typical, her mom describes a young woman who was anything but an average teen… read more

A Father's Love
You can hear the love in Gary Foyston’s voice when he talks about his daughter, Yarah... read more

John's Story
According to his mom, Lili, by the time he was eight months old, John Hoogland had already taken his first steps and could say two words,“up” and “down,” to let his parents know he wanted to get out of his crib... read more

Celebrating Jay
Jillian Napier and Jim Ganley have three children: eight-year-old Jack, four-year-old Jensa and baby Jay, who is two-and-a-half years old. The Napier-Ganleys are a family that redefines "active” ... read more

A Home of Their Own
If you were to close your eyes and imagine having a baby, odds are you’d picture a single, perfect child. Thinking toward the future, it would be easy to see the daily joys, the landmark events, and the family trips you’ll one day share with your child. Now imagine having not one baby, but twins... read more

2009

Caring for Briana - lessons in joy
Everyone that looks after her falls in love with her.  They just get hooked.  We call it the "Briana fix" - they all want more, more, more," says Bernie Shephard laughing with his wife Marilyn... read more

A home for a hero
Like his namesake, Kalel seemd to have 'superpowers' right from the start... read more

Bath time made easy
Having a bath is such a simple thing, for most of us.  We take it for granted. Don't event think twice. A quick bath at the end of the day.... five minutes and you're out, warm and cozy... read more

Home: The final frontier
An eerie blue light illuminates the sleek black fixtures of the spaceship command deck. A screen displays complex coding, while silver machines labeled "sanitation unit" and "cryonic chamber" hum, hard at work. Glimpsed through a porthole is a view of the planet Earth rising, hug and swirling with clouds... read more

A better life for Liam
We'd just like to give Liam some dignity," says Chrissy Thom... read more

2008

A family restored and reunited
We were so afraid we would drop her,” says Helen Premia. Carrying their seven-year old daughter Angelina up and down the stairs of their Surrey, BC home was becoming physically impossible... read more

Raising an apetite for life
Can an elevator elevate your appetite for life? For the Townsend family, putting in a residential lift not only gave Alex Townsend access to the upper floor of their home, it also restored his appetite—not just for food, but also for living... read more

On the road again
We call it his gangsta van,” Julia Lattimer laughs. Giving in Action helped the Lattimers purchase a new wheel-chair accessible van for Julia’s son Kurt... read more

From housebound to home free
Getting Jackie down four stairs used to take three people. “He’s heavy, and his wheelchair is really heavy,” says Linda Phillips, Jackie’s bright-eyed younger sister. “Getting him down the front stairs of the house was a three person job. And it took at least two to get him in the car.”... read more

Out of the nest
When her son pushed her gently out his door, Laurie Paytner knew she and her husband had succeeded. “Aaron had been staying with us while his caregivers were away over Christmas. When we dropped him off, we were chatting with his caregivers, and I guess it went a little too long for his liking because he opened the door and kind of leaned on my shoulder and said, Bye!” Laurie says with a laugh... read more

2007

Time for the good things
Imagine caring for eleven kids. Now imagine caring for eleven kids, most with severe physical and mental disabilities, with several in wheelchairs.  “Most of these kids had suffered horrible abuses and sickness and pain. I knew I could give them better than they would get anywhere else,” says Esther, whose sunny yellow top matches her warm—and obviously extraordinarily generous—disposition... read more

Ramped out, decked out

Playing on his family’s rotten, splintery deck was nightmare for Matteus. Matteus has spina bifida. His lower legs are paralyzed, and in those areas, he can’t feel his skin. That didn’t stop the enthusiastic little guy from wanting to play outside, like his older sister.

“He was two years old then, and he just loved being out on the deck. But his walker would get stuck because it was uneven. And when he crawled on it, because he can’t feel his knees and his feet, he’d get all these splinters and cuts. Then, because of his nerve damage, those cuts take forever to heal. But because he couldn’t feel how he had hurt himself, telling him not to go out there didn’t make any sense to him,” his mother Celia Preusse explains... read more

Room to grow
Obviously, a man with over 800 friends needs his own apartment.  Brent Langridge, an active twenty-six year old with Down’s syndrome, had his own room in his parent’s Pitt Meadows home, but it was cramping his style... read more

A new life
It’s like having a newborn baby for 16 years,” Wendy Hile explains. Wendy’s sixteen-year old daughter Jenny has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare condition that causes problems including dwarfism, developmental delay, an inability to eat orally, heart problems, seizures and a sleep disorder...read more

Out of a tight place
It was so bad, Kyle hardly ever got a bath, before we did the renovations,” Lori Goldie says... read more

2006

The Tesan Family
We would just like to express our great appreciation to the Giving in Action Society. This suite will be life enhancing for both Erin and our family. It is a win-win situation. Many thanks!"
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The Leitch Family

“When you are told your child will never walk and will need you for the rest of her life, shock is the first emotion, then fear of the unknown. Life as we knew it had completely changed. We would like to thank the Giving in Action Society for their kindness, for making Amanda feel she matters. We want you to know everything you do means more than you can imagine. What a way to spend your day, making lives easier for those who meet such challenges everyday. Thank You. ” - Jeff, Linda, Amanda, Matthew and Adam Leitch

The Virdi Family

“My name is Manpreet I’m 23 years old and I was born with Cerebral Palsy. I have a power chair that I use to get around but when it comes to going out in the community or with my family, transportation is a big deal for me. My family didn’t have a wheelchair accessible van so I had to rely on Handy Dart, Taxi, or Bus which made it difficult for me and my family. Recently I was the proud recipient of the Family Independence Fund Grant given out by the Giving in Action Society. They helped my family purchase a wheelchair accessible van and I couldn’t be happier. Thanks to Giving in Action now I can enjoy my new found freedom with my family and friends.”

The Inkster Family

“The Centre for Child Development in Surrey let me know about charities that would help with funding for our new van. One was the Giving in Action Society. They approved our grant in just one month! I went into complete shock.  We are a single income family and we just scrape by. To have this help was so amazing. We are so grateful for everything that has been done for us.  This van means that Camdyn can have his chair wherever we go and we can get there with our whole family together. I can’t say thank you enough to everybody that has helped our family. I have never seen such generosity. For us it is nowhere but up from here.” - The Inkster’s

The Searcy Family

“Taslyn loves to be with her family and her friends and out in our community!  We found that we were getting out less and less as it became more and more difficult for Tas to travel in our minivan. Taslyn would cry and cry for hours on long trips. Now that she is able to travel in her wheelchair and now that we can get her in and out of a vehicle with ease we are out and about all the time. Thank you.”  - Dave and Naryn Searcy