The Journey Thus Far
It seems it was “It takes a village to raise a child,” that was a catchy phrase a few years back. However one feels about that notion, it has certainly has been demonstrated to us recently.
It has taken many differently skilled and generous individuals to remodel the little brick rambler on Edmonds Way into the Louis Braille School. The process has presented us with many surprises, most of them requiring extra costs.
Our initial intent was to open in September of 2005. Converting a bathroom into an ADA bathroom, rewiring the building to bring it up to state code, building a ramp, making our main entrance door wide enough for a wheelchair, drywall work, and replacing a cracked bathroom sink and vanity are a few of the chores that need to be completed before we can open our doors to the children.
As a non-profit school, we have approached individuals and organizations for monetary donations or donations of items needed for the school. The heartwarming part of this process is that several individuals and businesses have given voluntarily of their time and expertise without us asking.
Our wiring was done by a local company without charge for labor (and on their own time), paint was donated by a gentleman with his own painting company, a lovely wooden rocking chair and colorful storage trays on wheels were given to us by a local business owner, several desks and chairs have been donated by a local real estate office, a replica of a lighthouse and taxidermy animals by friends of the school, a plumber fixed a significantly annoying and costly leak without charging us, and others made donations of cash.
We will continue to be in need of these donations, both monetary (to help with remodeling costs and for the tuition fund), and items such as copy/computer paper and teaching tools for the children (please see our Wish List).