Nick D’Amora’s Legacy

My name is Barbara D'Amora and I am the proud mother of the amazing Nicholas D'Amora. Nick suffered a catastrophic seizure last week that left him on life support. This is NOT a GoFundMe for my family. We are not in need. This Go Fund Me is to help me carry out Nick's wishes, Nick's hopes and dreams. You see, his work was not finished here. He had so much more work to do, so much more to give to this world. Our family will be committed to him and his legacy for the rest of our lives. I am lost and broken right now. I feel untethered. Everything we did was WITH or FOR Nick. His work MUST continue. He was a teacher... a mentor...a leader.. an inspiration and a CHANGER!!! My Nick was autistic and non-speaking yet he "spoke" to the world in SO many ways. He wanted to be a chef..he loved cooking (and eating!) He wanted to work in or own a restaurant. He was set free from a life of silence when he learned how to spell when he was 12 years old thanks to SOMA in TEXAS. I met my son, truly met him there. We brought this communication method to Staten Island and although it took some time for people to believe, Nick forged on and never gave up. Instead, he flourished and taught us all that NON-SPEAKING DID NOT MEAN NON THINKING. He explained beautifully that he and others were in a body that does not cooperate and he struggled daily to stay regulated and focused. Nick wanted to free so many others and get them ALL SPELLING! We did so much public speaking and He would encourage parents and teachers and friends to presume competency and believe in their kids. He truly changed the world. Teachers, paras, parents, direct support staff, family and friends said they would never look at another autistic person the same way after meeting Nicholas. He was a CHANGER. God gifted him to us 25 ago and I was so blessed to be his mother. I will honor his legacy for the rest of my days. His work MUST and WILL continue. I always told him how significant his life was...that he had such a purpose here on earth. I wanted him to know this!!! And He Knew it!! He used to spell to me "MOM I LOVE YOU SO MUCH WE MAKE THE GREATEST TEAM TOGETHER " YES-YES NICK WE DO. He wanted to start a "revolution" as he called it, to bring Spelling to Communicate to the masses. We were just beginning this incredible work with CrimsonRise where Nick was a founder with his friends, Tejas Rao Sankar, Cristofer Puleo and Will Jusino the first organization led by non-speaking autistic individuals. If you can imagine our joy as we were told that CrimsonRise will be building a center they are going to name THE NICHOLAS D'AMORA CENTER FOR SPELLING AND ADVOCACY !!! Our Nick would be in complete joy and shock !!! He was a PIONEER and truly left this world a better place. I make this ask....please share this Go Fund ME EVERYWHERE! I want to share this with The GRACE Foundation, an organization that I helped found 22 years ago inspired by Nick. and CrimsonRise these are our two legacies that will help many others that will come after my NICK, this was HIS DREAM. CrimsonRise needs a home...a building... a space to call our own to expand to serve many. This is my goal to make this happen in his memory. The GRACE foundation is currently expanding and will be building a beautiful kitchen in Nick's memory. It will be called "NICKY's KITCHEN!!" He would be over the moon..with places named after him!! Please please help me to make this happen for these two incredible organizations. If you have been blessed with the means to help us please do....anything will help. If you weren't that's ok too, but maybe you can share this with someone who HAS BEEN BLESSED!!

I WANT AND NEED the WORLD TO KNOW MY SON AND HIS INCREDIBLE LEGACY.

PLEASE speak his name out loud "Nicholas D'Amora" THE CHANGER!

****If you would like to make your contribution tax deductible you can donate directly to the organizations in Nicholas' memory at the following links.

www.graceofny.org and www.crimsonrise.org

#NICKTHECHANGER