Help Create a Nonprofit "The Emery Project"

My name is Clint Banks, LCSW. I am a licensed clinical social worker in Henderson, Nevada. As a social worker I have encountered many situations where people or families needed resources or assistance to receive the much-needed help for themselves or a loved one, with mental or physical disabilities.

As a father of a son with physical disabilities, I have firsthand knowledge of these barriers and the obstacles encountered. Often Government run programs are inadequate to provide enough resources for therapies, personal care assistance, daycare, assistive technology and many other programs. Other families or individuals may make too much to qualify for Government Assistance, but not enough to afford the necessary programs to help improve the life of the disabled individual.

I am creating a non-profit organization inspired by my son Emery and the difficulties that we have encountered to help bridge the gap between resources and disabled individuals. The goal is to improve the quality of life for these individuals and help remove financial barriers for these people and their families.

“Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” -Kathy Calvin

We can make a difference for individuals and families facing with the challenge of mental and physical disabilities. If you are unable to donate, please help by sharing this information. I sincerely appreciate your kindness, and our future benefactors do too!

Clint Banks

The Story

Emery Banks is truly remarkable!

Emery was born prematurely on December 26th, 2008. He was born with many issues at birth including Arthrogryposis, Inferior vermian hypoplasia, VSD, kidney reflux, a cleft pallet and other issues doctors called “midline defects”. Emery struggled from birth and required staying in the NICU for the first few months of his life. During this time, it was apparent that Emery was unable to bottle feed and was struggling to strive. I remember this time was very scary for me and my wife. This was our first child together and very special to us. It was decided that Emery would receive a G-Tube for nutrition. This was only the beginning of surgeries for little Emery. When Emery was able to come home there were a couple of extremely scary incidents in which Emery was unable to breathe correctly and was rushed to the hospital. Eventually the doctors suggested that he would benefit from having a Tracheostomy at 4 months old. On another occasion, Emery had a severe lung infection that caused him to be hospitalized and required a special treatment called Heliox that used helium to help him breathe. Again, it was very scary for me and my wife. With many hospital stays it was challenging for my wife and I to manage, work, hospital stays with Emery and taking care of our other young children. Without the help of others, I really don’t know how we would have managed.

Despite these early struggles and multiple hospital visits, Emery would eventually learn to speak around his tracheostomy and learn to eat on his own. However, other struggles remained regarding his Arthrogryposis which caused Emery’s legs to be rotated outward. This caused Emery much difficulty in walking and standing still. Emery received surgery to straighten his legs. During this time Emery was bed bound and missed school for months. Emery also struggles with hearing loss in his right ear. He received multiple surgeries on his ear only to have it filled with scar tissue. Emery is currently debating whether he wants to pursue another surgery on his ear to hopefully improve the hearing but is discouraged by the potential for continued scarring and the extensive after cares.

Emery’s struggle is an inspiring journey because he has persevered through these challenges and still faces others. Emery has always shown compassion for others with disabilities and has befriended others with their own disabilities.

My wife and I were often worried about how we would cover a medical bill or if we could afford specialized cares for Emery. We also worried about the impact that all the focus on Emery’s needs would also have on our other children. Our family was lucky to have the support of our families to help us often. But other families are not as fortunate as ours and require help from others because they may not have access to extended family to assist. And perhaps the needs of their special needs individual may be dramatically more severe than our Emery.

The Emery Project is being created with the purpose of helping families with members that have physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities or even mental health needs have the financial resources to access services that will best help the individual and the family. The Emery project will not discriminate race, gender or sexual preference but will rather seek to help individuals in need get the helps and supports they require.