Stories of Hope

February 2025

Top to bottom: Johnetta and Zy'Aire; Venequa's power boost chair was quickly up and running; SOS staffer, AJ, adjusts a footrest; Barbara and Vicky,

Clients showed up bright and early this past Saturday at our first Free Wheelchair Clinic in West Louisville-- which was the fifth in a series of clinics supported by funding from The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and by a 2025 community grant from Park Community Credit Union Foundation. We are grateful to Norton West Louisville Hospital for hosting this event and providing free lunch for all clients and volunteers.

As usual, the neighbors who came for repairs also came with stories of challenges due to broken equipment. Johnetta, a JCTC student who arrived with her beautiful baby son, Zy'Aire, shared that her wheel had flown off of her chair on the way home one day and she had to crawl to her apartment dragging the chair behind her. "I love this chair," she said, "but repairs are unpredictable. You'll be rolling along fine and then you hit something and you're out of commission." Vicky whose power chair has been stalling on the streets came with her husband of 32 years who has had to miss chemo appointments due to their mobility issues. "I got a repair appointment after months of waiting and then found out I have to wait months for parts. I was so excited to hear that this clinic was coming."

Vicky also brought her best friend, Barbara, who once had to pay a stranger to push her back from Kroger after her scooter stalled again. The friends were beaming when they learned that SOS Local Health Program manager Brian Jointer would be able to give both of them replacement equipment; Barbara got a new motorized scooter and Vicky a comfortable power chair which tech volunteer Chris Maddox adjusted to fit perfectly. "Can you take our pictures together?" Vicky asked. "No one is going to believe this! Now we are going to get out here and have some fun!"

GIVING CHILDREN IN ECUADOR THE GIFT OF SIGHT-- AND BEING SEEN

A hand-carry suitcase filled with supplies helped to provide vision appointments to 200 children and sight-restoring surgeries to 47 patients in impoverished Ecuador.

In San Salvador, El Salvador, eye diseases cause not just a loss of vision, but a loss of community and opportunity. “Many families in poorer areas believe that children with strabismus (crossed eyes) and eye diseases are cursed by the devil,” says nurse anesthetist, Wilma Gillis, who has been doing mission trips in the area since 2013 and traveled there with SOS supplies late last fall. “One little boy we saw had been struck by lightning and was blinded in one eye and had low vision in the other," shares Wilma. "He was abandoned by his father and was being raised by his mother.” Fortunately, for this boy and 45 others, a quick and relatively safe surgery restored his sight, aligned his eyes and altered the course of his life. “That boy will now go to school. He will get a trade. He can have a family,” says Wilma. “To be able to give children a life like this through a surgery that doesn’t have a tremendous amount of risk is just breathtaking.”

The children are examined in clinic one day and then the surgeries are performed the next. “First of all, there is no eye bandage– just ointment. It’s an amazing transformation and the parents are just overcome with joy,” says Wilma. “I think your charity is superb. We used to scavenge every day in third world bins for supplies. To have an organization that collects and sorts and responsibly packs these items to be reused by those in need is simply remarkable.”

CHEERS FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS!

In the past few weeks, SOS welcomed volunteer groups from Humana, Assumption High School and Central High School HOSA students who helped pack items going to Ukraine and our Education program! Thank you to all who helped us spread health and hope!

Clockwise from top: Two groups from Humana, and Central High School students in the warehouse and the community meeting space with Tom.

BEFORE YOU GO...

Get Your Seat!

You won't want to miss the Seventh Annual Health & Hope Breakfast! After exceeding the capacity at our former event space, we will be making a move to a bigger venue where we can continue to grow our gathering and create an immersive, engaging experience that reflects our dynamic mission.

We would LOVE to see you there and encourage you to bring a guest who might be interested in supporting the vitally important work that we do. It is needed now more than ever.

We are thrilled to announce that WLKY reporter Alexis Mathews will emcee the event once again this year!

"I am deeply honored to serve as emcee for the annual Health & Hope Breakfast. I’ve had the privilege of covering the impactful work that SOS International does in Louisville and beyond. Additionally, I can’t speak highly enough of the selfless SOS team and fearless leader, Ms. Denise Sears. If I can touch the community half the way she does, I am fulfilled. I’m grateful she extended the invitation to host this event." --Alexis Mathews

RSVP here!