Support for Belinda Paul and her Family Fundraiser

On behalf of the Daley Middle School, my name is Bob Young. As many of you have heard, our Daley Middle School co-worker and our good friend, Belinda Paul, has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). We want to help Belinda and her family with this difficult challenge.

Last year Belinda began having difficulty with mobility issues, such as climbing stairs, and she also started having muscle spasms. After her appointment this summer she was diagnosed with ALS, it was confirmed on September 6th at Mass General that ALS was indeed the cause of her change in mobility. This year the mobility issues and pain have caused her difficulty performing tasks such as pushing pins into a bulletin board and opening her car door. This disease affects voluntary muscle movement, and it is progressive. 

Belinda has been a Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) at the Daley Middle School for the past six years and has helped many of our students with severe special needs learn to communicate, speak, and become lifelong learners. Before working at the Daley Middle School, Belinda was an SLP in Georgia for 15 years. Belinda is an excellent SLP and well-liked by students and colleagues. She always has a smile and has been a great colleague by helping others with anything they need. Belinda also has stayed positive during this difficult time, and this is evident in the email she sent to colleagues informing them of her diagnosis, she said “I'm going to continue to work as long as I can to deliver quality services, as being with my Daley friends means so much to me and provides such a mental boost.  I come home from the end of my day feeling happy!”

In her email, Belinda also said, " this situation provides a unique opportunity to better understand disabilities and how they affect my students.”

Besides being a fantastic SLP, Belinda is a wife and mother.

Belinda and her husband Chris have three wonderful children Benjamin 17, Sam 15, and Amelia 14

Although Belinda is on medication to attempt to slow the ALS progression and has been checking into clinical trials, it is anticipated that she will need extensive medical care and extensive interventions to help slow progression and preserve her quality of life.

I created this fundraiser to help Belinda and her family with medical bills, household expenses, mobility devices, modifications to her home, and anything else they may need at this time and in the future.

Please help our friend and colleague Belinda with the challenges of ALS. She is the mother of 3 wonderful children and is a great friend to all of us.