The Heroes Helping Children with Disabilities Succeed—And How Melaleuca Is Supporting Them
Imagine a child with developmental disabilities, unable to express their basic needs and desires, struggling to connect in typical ways with the world around them. Now imagine the moment that child finally climbs stairs, engages in a conversation, or hears a loud noise without being afraid—all because they received the right support. Those small miracles are what the nonprofit Therapies for Hope regularly give to families.
This Autism Awareness Month, Melaleuca: The Wellness Company is spreading the message that every child deserves the opportunity and resources to achieve their potential, and we are honored to stand with organizations and communities across the nation that support children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1 in 36 children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But too many of these children, and their families, have limited access to therapies that would make all the difference for them.
Over the last two years, Melaleuca has provided financial support to Therapies for Hope, an amazing nonprofit that helps children overcome these challenges.
Melaleuca CEO Jerry Felton loves fulfilling Melaleuca’s mission in this way. “At Melaleuca, our mission is simple: to enhance lives. That includes supporting nonprofits and other organizations that provide life-changing services to children and families who face unique challenges. It’s inspiring to see how the right resources and care can unlock a child’s potential. We’re honored to be a small part of that transformative process.”
What Is Therapies for Hope?
Across the United States, many children with autism and other developmental disabilities struggle to access needed therapy—especially in underserved communities. Therapies for Hope is one of the many organizations working hard to provide customized therapy programs to families who might otherwise go without. Based in Denver, Therapies for Hope is tackling a challenge that affects countless families everywhere in the nation.
The nonprofit was created by Eric and Enid Victor, executive director and director of administration respectively. It all started with their daughter Hope, who has Down syndrome. Inspired by their daughter, Eric and Enid turned their love and determination into action.
After countless hours of research and community involvement, they founded Therapies for Hope so that other families wouldn’t have to navigate the same challenges alone. It helps children with intellectual, social, language, and physical disabilities develop the skills and confidence to reach their full potential. Eric describes the organization as a labor of love, and it truly is. He performs his executive director duties on top of his work as a professional consultant.
Small Victories Add up to Big Futures
The mission of Therapies for Hope is to provide interdisciplinary therapy for children with developmental, social, language, and physical disabilities. Focusing their efforts on families with limited resources, Therapies for Hope helps these disadvantaged children, many of whom are on the autism spectrum, gain the skills and confidence they need to reach their full potential not only as members of their communities but also as individuals.
Therapy includes what the nonprofit calls “intensives,” which allow for significant developmental progression to take place in a very short period of time—what would normally take months to accomplish can take as little as week.
Throughout the five days, children who are developmentally disabled, along with their siblings, received free therapy from a group of specialists, including social workers, art and music therapists, speech pathologists and physical, behavioral, and occupational therapists.
“We can affect a change,” said Kim Kelleher, senior program director at Therapies for Hope. “It’s six hours of therapy, and every minute of this day is therapeutic—lunch, snack, going to the bathroom, everything. We turn everything into therapy so that we can teach kids in their real life.”
Dedicated therapists work with small groups and with each individual child toward their specific goals.
From Tears to Triumphs
Therapies of Hope has helped many children and their families. About 98% of children receiving therapy through the organization have made measurable improvements in speech, social skills, and mobility—key developmental areas for children with autism.
The children demonstrate their progress not only in private, controlled environments, but also—and more crucially—in public spaces, such as restaurants, grocery stores, and even noisy environments like fire stations. These children are discovering that they can connect to the world around them in ways that were once thought impossible.
Thanks to generous donor and therapist support, including support from Melaleuca, these children are gaining confidence and independence that they and their families never thought was possible.
When a licensed professional therapist worked with Therapies for Hope for a week, she saw the enormous value in the therapy and enrolled her two daughters into the program, one with special needs and one without.
“[That] week changed our lives,” she recalls. “This is the first program where my special needs daughter has experienced any success. Generally, she shuts down and ends up in tears and doesn’t benefit from the therapeutic value, but she did at [Therapies for Hope]. She felt comfortable to part from me and was able to successfully participate and make progress on all the established goals. Prior to last week this child had never engaged with classmates or teachers while playing and now is listening to the teachers and engaging in an age-appropriate way with peers.”
The sibling also “came out of her shell” to talk about her own experiences of having a sibling with special needs. This mom had never heard her other daughter openly share her perspective on their family’s dynamic, and she realized that her daughter had an enormous amount of compassion for her sister with special needs.
A public school special needs teacher contacted Therapies for Hope after noticing the behavior in one of her students improve after just one week of therapy.
And a father of a 4-year-old child was astonished at the progress his son made: “Right now, we don’t have the real words to show our gratitude to the Therapies for Hope team for their great and special work that they have done in the life of our son during this week. He tells us through his attitude that he was very happy with you.”
Melaleuca’s Donation Fuels Transformations
Over the last two years, Melaleuca has donated $20,000 to Therapies for Hope. These donations funded therapy sessions, which included providing therapeutic and educational services to siblings, parents, and guardians of the children.
“The families we target can’t afford the collective time of all of the therapists,” Eric explains. “That’s why Melaleuca’s support is so critical.”
Due to their success and the desire of the families, Therapies for Hope is adding more to their services, including a fall program. But the families, understandably, want the therapy year-round. While Eric and everyone else at Therapies for Hope is more than willing to accommodate that desire, the reality is that, in Eric’s words, “money is critical.”
Donations help make the dreams of these children and their families a reality.
“When you interact with these kiddos, they really change the way you see life,” Eric says. “So, thank you to Melaleuca and the many donors who regularly contribute to the Melaleuca Foundation.”
How to Make a Difference This Autism Awareness Month
Autism Awareness Month is a time to take action! You can make a difference today by joining Melaleuca in supporting Therapies for Hope! You can visit the Therapies for Hope website and donate.
If you have professional or other experience helping children with disabilities and live in the Denver area, your expertise is needed! Therapies for Hope welcomes volunteers and those looking for work as contracted staff members. Together, we can make a difference for children with autism.
