The G & g Foundation was founded in 2022.   Our mission is to support children and families with medically complex diagnoses with needs not supported by health insurance. 

Our sons Garrett and Gabriel were born with a rare genetic disorder named WOREE syndrome.  This is an autosomal recessive disorder which means both Mom and Dad were carriers.  When Garrett was born in 2008 there were complications at the time of delivery. When he began having seizures and showing developmental delays, it was thought to be related to the delivery complications as genetic testing was normal and we were unaware we were carriers of this disorder.

When Gabriel was born in 2009 everything seemed normal for the first 3 months of his life.  He was smiling, verbalizing some noises, holding his head up etc.  When he was three months old he had his first infantile spasm seizure and all development stopped.

The disorder wasn't actually discovered by scientists until 2015 so early genetic testing did not reveal much. 

Physicians told us at age 1 and 2 that our boys life expectancy would be limited with a lot of difficulties.  While they do face many challenges, their lives have been a daily inspiration and blessing to us.  

Processing all of this was difficult in their early years but over time we came to realize all the blessings that others did for our children.  With the help of family and friends we started this Foundation to honor our boys and to help other children and families with medical complexity as a way to pay it forward for our blessings.

Here are some of the ways your support has blessed the Foundation to help other families like ours:

• We have donated more than $100,000 to support Almost Home Kids, a respite and transitional care facility for medically complex children that serves families from Illinois and surrounding states
• We provided $5000 to local school districts in Peoria and Tazewell County to purchase Billy shoes for students in need.  These shoes adapt to ankle/foot braces that many children with complex medical needs wear
• We paid $7500 to a specialized physical therapy program to allow a family with local ties get intensive therapy for their child with Cerebral Palsy that insurance would not cover 

Thanks to your ongoing support we will continue to help as many children and families as possible with future needs