The start of something great....

For a long time I have wanted to be in contact with families in Australia who have kids or are living with immune deficiency themselves.

The IDFA Immune Deficiency Foundation of Australia provides just this source  ( http://www.idfa.org.au/ )
do exactly this. Our immunologists are a big part of this foundation already and they have been amazing at putting us onto a Facebook site to chat about living with a child who has immune deficiency.

On top of that I really started to get out and look for permanent housing options for both Harrison and Sterling ( who has an austism spectrum disorder)

We have moved 5 times in 8 years so far, and the house we are in needs a lot of work to make it possible to come home post transplant - so I was given the details of Habitat for Humanity NSW ( http://habitat.org.au/nsw ) and have asked them if there is a way that they could  possibly help us to own our own home. This looks like it might be an option if  it is possible to find a suitable block of land, and get the support they need to run this as a project. Maybe just maybe I can achieve a dream of home ownership and a permanent roof over my 4 kids heads. And the prospect of  rolling up my sleeves to help build  house for us is, well, exciting.  What a nice feeling that would be . Security!

Having a kid like Harrison is time consuming and costly and often the other kids - as they do in our family, go without some things for families to manage to make ends meet, and the parents make lots of sacrifices to makes ends meet.

In looking forward a house for us first is my priority - then I would love to build on that for turning Harrison's Place into a foundation. We as a family can then  have a place for kids like Harrison and families like our own to come and stay and enjoy a mini holiday - preferably as a farm stay - free. To give them a chance to have fun quality family time away from the pressures of normal life, and to do it at no cost to them, to maybe even partner with local restaurants or organisations and give the parents a much needed break too even if that was simply a dinner and special time together.  I love what other organisations do to support families, - healing them connect together to be in touch with others in a similar position. There is so little thought that gives financial assistance, or places for families to go for a much needed down time. I know it can make a difference. Not just for kids who are very sick but for adults who have kids, where the adult is living with PID. Those kids then need the fun and support and a break away.

We have been so lucky and blessed in our lives, it is time to work on getting Harrison well and then giving back once he is on a road of recovery. I think it is the start of something great and is something that as a family we can build together.