Hope Link - Oklahoma City

10/07/2022

Here's a chance for you to, "Ask Joy"! Join us for an informal event, focusing on current Oklahoma healthcare issues. Although healthcare is the focus, ANY topic is welcome to the table! Joy will answer your questions so you can better understand her plans as Oklahoma's next Governor. Be sure to RSVP and I hope to see you there!

03/17/2022

The Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families invites you to participate in Immunization Day at the Capitol on Tuesday, March 29th, 2022.

The 2022 Immunization Day at the Capitol is a great opportunity to network with public health champions and share with legislators the important role immunizations play in protecting our health, our families and our community.

The growing spread of misinformation about vaccines and its benefits is putting our families and communities at risk. Now is the time to take action and tell our policymakers why immunizations are important!

Join us on Tuesday, March 29th, along with families and organizations serving Oklahoma communities by providing science-based immunizations resources families need to make informed choices.

Click here to register.

We look forward to seeing you!

10/28/2021

Check out these winter coats, made especially for kids in wheelchairs!

https://www.rollingbuddies.com/collections/adaptive-jackets

One thing families like ours have, is keeping our child warm and safe during the cold months; this includes keeping her safe in her car seat and wheelchair.

Jackets and coats can be difficult and daunting for a child with severe scoliosis, cerebral palsy, various tubes and more. Sometimes it's just plain impossible to put a coat on a child like Ellie Kate or Lucy, and that just won't do!

If you'd like to give an adaptive jacket to one of our Hope Link kids this winter, please contact me directly and we will work on it!

I'm forever grateful for inventive parents and individuals, who continue to come up with such great ideas which are very much needed for those within the special-needs community. Thank you for supporting companies, groups and individuals making efforts on behalf of, "the Least of These"!

Ryan Elizabeth McLaughlin

For EVERY JACKET purchased Rolling Buddies DONATES ONE JACKET to a family in need. Spread the love. If you know a family in need check out our homepage and tell us where we should send one.

07/09/2021

Join us this Monday, July 12 at 1 p.m. on the OAHF page (https://www.facebook.com/OKHealthyFam) where Dr. Brennan will answer any questions or concerns you have. Questions can be submitted here ( https://www.okhealthyfamily.org/vax-for-good-fb-live) prior to the event.

With pre-teens and teens ages 12 years and older eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, parents may have questions about whether or not children who need complex care or have serious medical conditions should be vaccinated. Dr. Darin Brannan, senior vice president of Clinical Informatics at The Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital, will answer some questions about the vaccine and children who are immunocompromised or medically fragile.

I hope to see you there!

05/09/2021

HOPE LINK SPOTLIGHT: Lauren Chill

My name is Lauren Chill, and my husband Brant and I live with our little family in Edmond, OK. Iyla is almost two years old, and our youngest of three daughters. She was born with a very rare, genetic disorder, Aicardi syndrome which is characterized by untreatable seizures, brain malformations and retinal malformations - affecting vision and depth perception.

Heartbreakingly, Iyla’s additional complications with physical and respiratory development are severe and she struggles daily to achieve things most take for granted. The severity of her condition is ultimately terminal. Living on borrowed time with our darling girl is a treasured reminder that every day is a gift from God.

Hope Link was introduced to us through my sister-in-law, who has walked a very familiar path that we’re on today. Heartbreakingly, as unfair as it is, Iyla’s condition isn’t our family’s first experience with terminally ill children. Hope Link helped my sister-in-law navigate losing her two boys to a very rare genetic condition (that isn’t related to Iyla’s), and that is exactly what Hope Link is helping me through with Iyla now.

Hope Link allows me to connect with other mothers who are walking life’s most torturous road. It allows a safe place to ask hard questions and to have a vulnerable heart. It brings healing from a source so valuable; other mothers who have lived through “the storm” and prove you can too.

Very simply, Hope Link provides hope for life, and hope for a future for families like mine, whose children suffer from rare, serious, and undiagnosed medical disorders. Your prayers for this ministry. and monetary gifts to their 501c3, enable Hope Link to continue their ministry toward families like mine.

For more information on the OKC Hope Link Foundation, go to:
http://www.okchopelink.org/

In order to support families like Lauren’s, in tangible ways, go to:
http://www.okchopelink.org/Give.php

Lauren, we bless you today - MOTHER'S DAY! Thank you for sharing your story with the world. You are so much more than Iyla's momma - you are a warrior, an advocate, an encourager, and SO much more. Thank you for all you do for all three of your children. We are so happy to have you in Hope Link!

04/05/2021

For my PRO-VACCINATION Friends and Public Health Champions:
TWO House Bills are up for debate this week and WE NEED YOUR VOICE! Click on the link below for more information:
https://mailchi.mp/2f02a35cbf75/action-alert-6075500
PLEASE share this important information with your pro-vax co-workers, friends and family - we've got to get the word out, and have has many as possible contact our Healthcare Committees. THANK YOU FOR ACTION TODAY!!

There were 30+ vaccine-related bills at the start of this session, and two remain active. Those two are scheduled for committee hearings this week. 

03/31/2021

Special Needs Parents are part of a Fraternity no one dreams of being a part of. It's not something most strive to have on their resume and yet, it happens. Messy, broken, painful, LIFE happens but in it all, Special Needs Parents are a LIGHT and guide for one another. Our Fraternity is STRONG, LOYAL and STEADFAST.

OKC Hope Link strives to be a bright torch to those around us. We only can bless and serve fellow special needs, medically-fragile and bereaved families through YOUR generosity and prayer. Thank you for supporting this people-group, too often forgotten!

In order to monetarily give to OKC Hope Link and it's efforts, please visit our website: http://www.okchopelink.org/Give.php

03/08/2021

HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY to all of our amazingly strong, Special Needs and Bereaving Mothers!

You work mostly behind the scenes, but we see you - we know the sacrifices you make on behalf of your children, your family, your partner. We know your little girl dreams didn't include wheelchairs and tube feedings; but YOU - you soldier through, LIKE A WOMAN! We love you and bless you today!

03/03/2021

Hope Link serves the special needs and medically fragile communities in the OKC Metro area and beyond.

Today, let's honor our Super-Human Parents, given the gift of special needs children!

Post some encouraging words for a special needs parent in the comments below . . .