Travel help to visit Gary in Utah

Friends and Family:

My daughter and son-in-law’s hearts are heavy this Christmas because they are missing one of their family members, their son Gary. My name is Barbara Barnard. In 2011, my daughter and son-in-law adopted siblings who were homeless and had no other relatives or next of kin. Both brother and sister had been through an extreme amount of trauma due to their living situation (both birth mom and dad were on drugs). They opened their home to these children through the emergency shelter program, which was supposed to be a temporary placement ; however they ended up adopting them. At the time, they were 3 (Gary) and 5 (Breanna). My granddaughter (who is the oldest) received therapy early on and is doing very well. My grandson’s trauma, however, was more extreme. He has had severe anger outbursts and defiance issues since he was 3. We’ve been in many programs, trainings, therapy, and wraparound services since then. They both were raised in church and Christian schools, and nothing seemed to work. He is now 13 (7th grade) and my daughter and son-in-law (through the recommendation of his therapist) had to make the very hard decision to send Gary to a long-term residential therapy program in Utah. They flew to Utah on 12/10/2023 where they were greeted by the staff. They already miss him terribly. They know in their heart this is the best place for him. When he transitions back into their home after the program, he will hopefully have learned new coping skills and behaviors on how to survive in life. The last thing they want is for Gary to feel abandonment so they would like to see Gary as much as possible. The family would love to make a trip to see Gary every couple of months; however, money is very tight and the program is expensive. So, I decided to start a GoFundMe for them, so they don’t have to worry about having the money to go see Gary while he is in treatment.

I am seeking whatever your heart can allow to help my family with the costs of travel that they will incur during the time he is in therapy in Utah (which could be up to 18 months). Thank you for your thoughtful consideration in this time of distress.