Disability
Miss Junior Teen Ohio, Jessica Waters, Has Can DO Attitude
On May 18, 2008, just days before Jessica Waters was to become 12, got the news that would rock her world. Finally, the trouble she was having with focusing and remembering in school was given a name. Jessica became one of the estimated 2.5 million America
ns diagnosed with Epilepsy, a disease of the central nervous system.
Suddenly, this young girl who liked to think of herself as the ‘tough kid’ was fighting the battle of her life. In her teenage years she has experienced three kinds of seizures including seven grand mal seizures. And her medicine altered her personality. Jessica was told she could no longer ride her bike and coaches no longer wanted her on their sports teams. She was asked not to attend parties. She was told she would never be able to dance, tumble or cheer again – her great passions. She was harassed and bullied.
It was a summer camp, Camp Flamecatcher for children with epilepsy and other disabilities, where Jessica came to realize she CAN still swim, canoe, run, swing, and do arts and crafts. And, she saw other kids doing those things too.
“It really opened my eyes,” she said. “Kids don’t realize how much they can do. Camp taught me that epilepsy wasn’t a defining factor in my life.”
But that experience wouldn’t have been possible for her without a sponsor. It is a gift that she is paying forward. She founded Cupcake Charity (with support from her mom) to raise scholarship money to send other kids to Camp Flamecatcher whose families otherwise couldn’t afford the cost. Jessica raised enough for two partial and one full scholarship, and she is working hard to raise more this year.
The Camp experience also stirred her to action in another way. “People just don’t listen to young people well and I thought what better way to do something about that then to go for a title,” she said. “I researched the pageant organizations that care about what you do for others and that is what I am all about.”
Meet Miss Junior Teen Ohio 2012
At 15, Jessica – Miss Junior Teen Ohio 2012 – is a dedicated advocate for the Epilepsy Foundation, a member of her school’s Varsity Dance Team, a cheerleader for Beavercreek City Schools, received an All Team Academic Aw
ard and varsity letter for playing hockey, and is always looking for volunteer opportunities. Jessica is the youngest TWIG Auxiliary member for Dayton Children’s Hospital and is working with Julie Vann (previous mayor of Beavercreek) to establish a scholarship in honor of students her school has lost. For all that Jessica has accomplished, her list of accolades is simply too long to list.
I asked Jessica what her message is to other young people like herself. “I tell them to not let their disease or disability define them. You can do anything you put your mind to.”
I think that is a great lesson for all of us.
Circus Mojo and Redwood Bring Out Abilities
Walking on stilts. Spinning plates. Balancing a feather on a finger. Juggling. Flipping hats. Making jokes. Laughing.
Sure, those are the skills you’d expect students to learn in a class on being a clown. However, for adults who participate in the Redwood Work Activity Center that class is more about strengthening social and motor skills, confidence, and self-esteem.
It’s called CircAbility and the teachers are staff of Ludlow, Kentucky based Circus Mojo, a company that engages people of all abilities to focus on potential.
“By their reaching beyond their comfort zone in the class, our participants’ willingness to try other new things now is off the charts,” said Bridgette Hightower, community outreach coordinator for Redwood.
Lately they’ve been working extra hard practicing. That’s because this Friday night they’ll be showcasing their clown skills at Redwood’s big annual fund raiser – this year themed Destination Under the Big Top. Over 800 people are expected to attend the event that last year raised over $130,000 for Redwood services.
About Redwood:
Redwood serves over 750 individuals through 24 comprehensive programs in five areas: child development, technology solutions, 
workforce success, adult independence and integrated therapy.
Redwood is home to the only Assistive Technology Resource Center in Northern Kentucky, and one of only four in the state part of the Kentucky Assistive Technology Service. The center has assistive technology available for loan.
The Event:
Where – Receptions (1379 Donaldson Rd in Erlanger)
When – Friday night, March 1, 2013 from 7 pm to 11:30 pm
Cost – $65 at the door
More information: development@redwoodnky.org or 859-331-0880
Cincinnati Philanthropist Roger Grein Is An Inspiration
I’d like to tell you a little about the man with whom I have been spending a lot of time working with these past few weeks. His mother used to call him a ‘Gift from God” and I think she was pretty intuitive.
Roger Grein with Heidi Jark, Fifth Third Bank Foundation manager and honorary chair for the National Philanthropy Day Awards luncheon by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Cincinnati Chapter Photo credit: Lowry Photo Group
Roger Grein was recently honored nationally and locally with distinguished honors for his lifelong generosity and focus on strengthening lives and communities. He was selected from 19,000 full time volunteers as the National Father George Mader Award by the Catholic Volunteer Network. Named after the Network’s founder, the annual Award is given to an organization or individual that encourages lay men and women to serve others locally, nationally, or internationally. Grein was also named 2012 Philanthropist of the Year from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Cincinnati Chapter.
The Man Behind The Awards
At 70, Roger is a simple man. He still lives in the modest house in Lockland where he spent many years of his life and comes to work every day in a nondescript building on Benson Street in Reading.
But inside those walls, inspiration comes alive. To the right of his desk are rows of softball trophies – some so tall they reach higher than my knee (And those, he says, only represent a fraction of the trophies he had. He donates them to charities.) Each trophy represents another milestone in his 36 year coaching career, a journey that led teams to world championships and travels to Hawaii, Mexico, Sweden and the former Soviet Union.
All of that is from a man who, in school never came close to earning a spot on sport teams. Roger was asked to chalk the base lines, collect towels and fetch water instead.
You see, Roger was never expected to excel – physically or mentally. He was six months old when Frank and Thelma took him home from St. Joseph Infant Home. His birth certificate read ‘disnormal baby.’ He might not walk, the doctors said. He might not talk. And he might never know them.
Thelma would have none of that. In her eyes, her son could do anything. “Heal-toe,” she used to say. She walked her son everywhere, made him study, helped him find summer jobs, taught him about giving back, and ensured he was included. She expected from her son what other mothers expect from their sons – great things.
“The only time I realized I was different was when someone asked me why I walked the way I do,” Roger told me.
By the time he was around 11, he had already started a lawn business and joined an investment club. He used to get out of class to check the stock market, he remembers.
Roger studied finance at the University of Cincinnati, earning his MBA, but even with two degrees work was hard to come by. So he got back into the lawn cutting business and started handing out business cards, asking customers if they needed tax service.
That first year, Roger did 25 returns and his mother typed them up. By the third year he was doing 345 returns and had become the tax commissioner in three municipalities. In 1970, he was doing 850 returns with a staff of eight.
Unknown, however, even to family was that in his success, Roger was secretly giving away thousands…at one point, giving over half a million each year. In 1999 he gave Northern Kentucky University $500,000 for softball player scholarships 
and to improve the girls’ softball field, and for students with disabilities.
It was about 12 years ago, after learning of an NKU philanthropy program for students, sponsored by the Mayerson Foundation, that he vowed to expand the idea. That promise led to his meeting with Father Michael Graham at Xavier University to start a similar program there, which led to 34 colleges and universities embracing his philanthropy education model through a program that is managed by Ohio Campus Compact. And, now to over 2000 local teens engaged in becoming young philanthropists through Magnified Giving.
The vision of Magnified Giving is for every high school student in America, beginning with Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, to someday have an opportunity to learn firsthand how to be generous and wise philanthropists through hands-on experience. Participating school groups are challenged to determine how they want to invest up to $2000 in a nonprofit.
The organization’s fourth year is seeing a record number of schools and students involved. Over 2000 students in 36
Roger Grein with students at St. Xavier High School
Magnified Giving programs (35 school-based and one community-based) are researching hundreds of nonprofit agencies, sending over 300 grant invitation letters, and will be awarding grants collectively totally nearly $60,000 at the 2012-2013 Award Event, scheduled for April 30 at McAuley High School.
Paul Miller And Circus Mojo Inspire Potential
Note: Do you have children who want to learn circus arts? At the bottom of this post, learn how they can!
One of my favorite movies of all times has got to be Patch Adams – the beautiful true story of a man impassioned since early adulthood to dedicating his entire life toward spreading joy and laughter and love and kindness.
As a doctor, his greater purpose isn’t about prolonging death with medical treatment, but about promoting quality of life. In the movie, we saw Robin Williams (playing the role of Patch) dress as a clown and transform gloom into smiles, anxiety into joy.
“Celebrate that you have the ability to step out of yourself and the opportunity to give yourself to others and the world,” the real Patch just wrote on his Facebook page.
And so, when Paul Hallinan Miller aka Pauly the Clown first showed me a video story about his work with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, I knew this was a man and a passion in which I believed. In the little bit of time that I’ve been working with him in a PR capacity, I can see how much his work means to Paul and how much he wants to make a difference through his skills.
The Bigger Story
Paul was in his final year of college in 1996 when he dropped out to become a clown. He did ultimately return and got his theatre degree but not before a stint with Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey.
These days Paul and his team at Ludlow-based Circus Mojo are all about bringing out the best in people through circus arts. Their classes, workshops,
performances, and other programs have inspired children of all backgrounds, seniors, sports teams, corporate executives, people with disabilities, doctors, and hospitalized kids.
“In a hospital, giving kids some skills to take home besides their cast or their prescription or their scar is really important. It’s about giving the kids something to celebrate,” Paul said of his Circus Wellness Therapy that takes medical clowning to hospitals including Cincinnati Children’s Medical Hospital.
Other programs of Circus Mojo for diverse populations include:
CircAbility empowers people who have physical, mental and behavior disabilities to discover and strengthen skills and build self-confidence.
Circus Scholastics, largely funded by The Fischer Family Foundation, is a unique after-school tutoring program combining circus skills and homework.
Circus Wellness has performed at a center that serves people who are blind, in a juvenile detention center, for grief counseling, and others.
Work Your Mojo corporate programs foster team building, trust and confidence.
Under the Big Top
Built in 1946, the Ludlow Theatre was vacant for years when Paul acquired it and is continuing to renovate it. Immediate plans for the facility include expanding the seating capacity, installing a restaurant and bar, and developing its very own in-house circus production group. In addition to programming an array of music and entertainment (jazz, folk, rock, dance, comedy, improvisation, etc), the restaurant will offer brick-oven pizzas, the bar will specialize in independent micro brews, and the in-house production group will produce regular circus performances and a touring show.
Mark Your Calendars!
To purchase tickets for all events of Circus Mojo, please visit www.LudlowTheatre.com. You can also purchase tickets at the door. Ludlow Theatre is located at 322 Elm Street; Ludlow, Kentucky, 41016).
October 27
MojoWeen Haunted Circus
Calling all kids and kids at 
heart. Have you ever wanted to be a circus hula hooper, juggler, aerialist, or plate spinner? How about learning how to be a circus clown just in time for Halloween?
Circus Mojo’s MojoWeen Haunted Circus will feature an action packed performance fit for the Big Tent. Immediately following the show will be a fun, interactive workshop so can-do attitudes and gym shoes are recommended! It all begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 27 at the new performance hall of Circus Mojo – the Ludlow Theatre. (322 Elm Street; Ludlow, KY 41016).
Cost is $5 for adults and $3 for kids. (Adults 18 and over do the Thriller dance can also receive a free admission ticket to the Coulrophobia ball later that night – a $20 value.)
October 27 at 8 p.m.
Coulrophobia ‘Fear of the Clowns’ Ball
Just in time for Halloween, Circus Mojo is hosting Greater Cincinnati’s newest, spookiest, scariest circus event for adults with live music, unusual locally brewed beers, and of course – daring acts sure to amaze. Cost for the event is $20 per person.
Featured at the Coulrophobia Ball will be music from hailed Celtic folk metal band Winterhymn while performers will inspire with aerial acts, balls, wheels, and comedy. Those who dare come in costume are to be forewarned – the scariest clown guest will go home with a cash prize.
Proceeds from both of these events will support research on the impact of circus arts for people with disabilities and underserved youth.
There are other big events in November. Please check the Ludlow Theatre web site to learn more.
Win Tickets To MojoWeen!
I’ve got two groups of 4 kids tickets plus and adult kid-at-heart ticket to give-a-way. I’ll be drawing a name on Wednesday, October 24, at 4:30 p.m. To enter:
1. Simply tell me why your child or children love the circus as a comment below or message me (note that your comment may be used on Facebook)
2. Hang out with me on my Good Things Going Around Facebook page
2. Hang out with Circus Mojo on their Facebook page
3. Repin this contest image on Pinterest. Click on the photo for the link.
4 Paws for Ability Trains Service Dogs And BFFs For Kids
I’d like to introduce you to Evan Moss and Mindy. At 8, Evan is the brown-haired, bright-eyed who likes to run, play electronic games, laugh, and 
write. Mindy is the blond, curly-haired golden doodle who was born into this world to spread love…and save a life.
In 11 days time at 4 Paws for Ability, they became BFFs (best friends forever) sharing a common purpose of ensuring that one little boy with a golden heart can ultimately grow into a caring, accomplished adult.
Let me explain.
Evan was born with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) which causes tumors to grow within his vital organs – mostly in his brain, eyes, heart, skin, kidneys and lungs. His first seizure came when he was just a few weeks old. Not long after, doctors needed to remove a tumor from his brain.
Now Evan has night time seizures about 10 days, happening mostly while he sleeps. Most of the time medical attention is necessary. I’m sure you can imagine the stress that has given his parents, and insomnia many nights.
Now they all have relief knowing Evan now has a four-legged friend who can recognize the signs of seizures and make sure he is safe.
Mindy is a 4 Paws for Ability Dog
Located in Xenia, Ohio, 4 Paws for Ability is a wonderful nonprofit organization that provides service dogs to children with a variety of disabilities and to veterans from recent conflicts who have lost use of their limbs or hearing during combat.
Their high success rate of raising dogs for service work is attributable to many factors including that the majority of animals in the program are bred at their facility. 4 Paws also trains with positive reinforcement strategies. I love that they have partnerships with a number of area correctional facilities where inmates earn the privilege to do something positive by way of being a trainer.
Evan, the top selling author
One of the requirements of 4 Paws with its applicants is that they submit a drawing or essay. Evan wrote a book.
What came next was something no one predicted. The media caught wind of what Evan had done. Feature stories led to long lines wherever Evan held book signings. His book, “My Seizure Dog” sold about 4,000 copies, was the No. 1 best seller on Amazon.com’s ‘Kids Health’ section, and was featured on Amazon’s homepage. Now there is even a Kindle version.
But the best part was, Evan raised the entire $13,000 cost of having a new BFF and a new lease on life.
To read the full story on Evan and others who have benefited from 4 Paws for Ability, please visit their blog.
Photo credit: Jessica Noll, community/media relations director for 4 Paws for Ability.
