When Worlds Collide
Please help us welcome our newest grant recipient and ray of sunshine, Hannah Lindsey, to the Move For Jenn family!
In August of this year, just one week before she was slated to begin her freshman year at UNC Charlotte, Hannah was involved in a car accident. She was immediately transported to Levine Children's Hospital for treatment, and soon after transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia for rehabilitation. As a result of the accident, Hannah currently has no feeling below her mid-chest.
The Shepherd Center is a top-tier in-patient rehabilitation center with which the Lindsey family was already very familiar. Hannah's parents, Brandon and Elizabeth, are the founders of Dream On 3, a Charlotte headquartered non-profit that the couple started 11 years ago.
As Brandon puts it, God placed this project on his heart in November of 2012. He immediately began drafting a business plan for what is now Dream On 3, a non-profit organization that makes sports themed dreams come true for kids all over the country with life-altering conditions. Since their inception, Dream On 3 has created over-the-top customized dream experiences for just shy of 300 children (not including group outings, scholarships, and other programming) which in turn has impacted tens of thousands of individuals and communities.
In their 11 years, Dream On 3 has expanded through the Carolinas and into Georgia, Colorado, D.C., and Texas with more expansion plans in the works. Dream experience recipients, aka Dreamers, are referred to Dream On 3 by trusted referral partners, one of those referral partners being the Shepherd Center. In a strange turn of events, the Lindsey family is now on the receiving end of care with the Shepherd Center. While some may see this shift as cruel, the Lindsey family sees this as a blessing. After years of working with Shepherd Center staff, they knew that Hannah would be in the very best hands possible.
The connection between Move For Jenn and Dream On 3 started when Kelsey Ruocco started with MFJ as the Marketing and Communications Coordinator in March of 2022. Kelsey had previously worked with Dream On 3 through another organization and when DO3 needed marketing services fulfilled, Kelsey was their first call. She has now been with both organizations for two and a half years and could not feel luckier to help support their missions.
Through this, Jenn and Brandon connected and discussed how the organizations could support one another. Numerous conversations have taken place about how to work together to grant someone a dream experience and a prosthetic. While not quite in the way that was planned, the organizations have officially come together for a project.
When Jenn heard about Hannah's accident, she immediately offered support as a friend and as an organization. While technically outside of our normal scope, the foundation knew that we would support Hannah and the Lindsey family in any way possible. As Jenn said during our call with Hannah when we surprised her with the good news about funding her chair, "movement and mobility are so important to us, and if there is a tool out there, you should have access to it...the best of the best. Insurance should never be the reason why you don't have what you need."
When Brandon learned that the best wheelchair option for Hannah would not be covered by their insurance, he reached out to Kelsey to humbly ask how to start the grant process. Jenn approached the board with the request, which received a resounding yes.
With support from the Richard and Mary Morrison Foundation, Hannah's chair has been ordered and has arrived in Atlanta to be fitted for her to use during rehab before she is discharged from the Shepherd Center in the coming weeks.
Hannah has her hard days, but as Elizabeth has shared on Hannah's CaringBridge site, she continues to face adversity with a smile. Even on the days it feels impossible, she makes it possible. She has been voted "mayor" of their floor and welcomes new arrivals to the center with open arms. For anyone who knows Hannah, this isn't surprising in the least.
As shared by one of Hannah's friends, "Hannah is so beautiful inside and out and a social butterfly. Ask anyone and they would say she is the sweetest and most smiley person. She's always putting everyone else's needs before her own and is always putting smiles on everyone else's faces."
While the uncertainty of the future can feel heavy, we look forward to sharing more about how this beautiful story will continue to unfold. For now, please keep Hannah and her family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate their new normal.
You have so many people cheering for you, Hannah!
If you'd like to follow Hannah's journey, you can join her CaringBridge page here.
Hannah, Victoria, Elizabeth and Brandon on their family trip to Greece in the summer of 2024
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This gift would not be possible without support from the Richard and Mary Morrison Foundation. In 2023, the RMMF gifted Move For Jenn $10,000 to help cover the cost of a specialized prosthetic for UK resident, Annabel. Read more about that incredible story here.
Earlier this year, the RMMF generously donated $5,000 to Move For Jenn, but as soon as they heard Hannah's story, they jumped into action and shared that they would make an additional donation with the intent to cover Hannah's needs in full.
Founded in 2010, the RMMF has gifted over $1.3 million to organizations in their community. Originally located in Long Island, NY, the Morrison family relocated to Charlotte in recent years and have since expanded their giving to our community.
Please help us thank Richard, Mary, and Rose for their loving and generous hearts!
Richard, Rose, and Mary Morrison
Hannah's ceiling tile art at the Shepherd Center