As we speak I’m happy to introduce you to Danielle Grandholm, a really particular Workshops grantee.
In April 2020, when she was eight months pregnant, Danielle planted her first chopping backyard. Two weeks later, she went into labor and when her daughter was born, she realized that she had Down syndrome.
sBecause of the lack of sources offered by the hospital the place her daughter Sami was born, Danielle and her husband, Matt, ultimately led to the creation of a non-profit group known as Rising Kites. Their group gives schooling and help for brand new dad and mom who’ve lately realized that their baby has Down syndrome. Danielle’s chopping backyard helps fund the nonprofit by package deal gross sales, subscriptions, and workshops.
When filming the second season of Floret risingWe requested Danielle and her household if they might be prepared to allow us to movie their story. To our delight, they agreed and the members of the Blue Chalk group headed to Michigan.
Danielle’s story got here out in Episode 3 of the present and we knew Fluorite readers would have an interest to know extra about her story. When you want some inspiration, this interview is a should learn.
Danielle, thanks a lot for becoming a member of me for this interview. I’m completely happy that can assist you share your story. Please introduce your self, inform the readers the place you might be from and what fills your days, and the way you first bought to know Floret.
I am Danielle, Co-Founder and Director of Rising Kites. My husband, Matt, and I’ve two youngsters, Louis and Sammy, and we stay in Bridgman, Michigan, a small city positioned alongside the southern a part of Lake Michigan about an hour and a half from Chicago, Illinois.
Taking good care of our two younger youngsters crammed most of my days, and at the moment which means a lot of college withdrawals, remedy appointments, and Lego constructing. However once I’m not in full mother mode, I am concerned in every kind of nonprofit companies, from constructing and delivery Rising Kites to reaching out to different households within the Down syndrome group to working in our backyard and delivering flowers.
I realized about Floret again within the spring of 2020, as I used to be pregnant with Sammie and planning my first lower flower backyard. I began researching develop flowers and located your weblog. I’ve spilled your weblog posts and watched each free video workshop you place out to study what I can do about rising flowers.
We completely beloved having you as a part of the Floret On-line Workshop alumni group. How has profitable a scholarship affected your life and work?
I’m so grateful to have the ability to take part within the workshop! It has benefited us significantly as we proceed to broaden our nonprofit on the flower aspect and on the outreach aspect.
Having your infinite knowledge and Jill has helped me make higher use of the little house we now have in our yard so we are able to make a much bigger influence – which I’m certain I couldn’t have carried out with out your data. I’ve additionally been in a position to take quite a lot of your recommendation on objective setting and switch it to different areas of our nonprofit — permitting me to raised focus and drive the work we do.
What recommendation would you give to somebody contemplating taking part within the on-line workshop and/or making use of for a scholarship?
First, do it! I by no means thought in 1,000,000 years that I’d have the alternatives I had because of making use of. However right here I’m.
Secondly, in case you are making use of, be courageous and share your desires boldly. Writing my desires for our nonprofit scared me, however expressing them made them a actuality. The workshop offered me with steps to work towards attaining these objectives.
What as soon as felt inconceivable appears achievable now! It is nonetheless scary, however attainable.
Please inform us in regards to the rising kites. What impressed you to start out this venture?
Matt and I’ve at all times wished to start out a nonprofit; We had no concept what it could be like. However then got here our daughter, Sammie, or “Flower,” as my son known as her all through her being pregnant. Sami was born with Down Syndrome, and her prognosis at start rocked our world.
The hospital the place I used to be born took such fantastic care of us, however we left feeling utterly misplaced as a result of the one info they gave us was a Google printout telling us about Down Syndrome. We spent the primary weeks and months of our daughter’s life looking for solutions to many questions. Trying again, we want we may have loved it extra.
As we started to make contact with different households within the Down syndrome group, it turned clear that many others had additionally left the antenatal clinic or hospital feeling misplaced and overwhelmed after receiving a prognosis. We additionally spoke with quite a few medical doctors and nurses who informed us that they typically really feel ill-prepared to supply enough sources and help to households who obtain this information.
Consequently, we have been impressed to start out Rising Kites.
Rising Kites present baggage of sources, schooling, and encouragement to hospitals, birthing facilities, and antenatal clinics that may be instantly distributed to folks who simply study that their baby has been recognized with Down Syndrome.
We hope that by offering baggage straight to those services, new households within the Down syndrome group will obtain instant schooling, sources, and encouragement as they navigate a brand new and surprising highway.
The flowers rapidly turned such an enormous a part of the nonprofit the summer season after our launch that I discovered them to be an effective way to unfold our mission and fundraise for the baggage.
Like I stated, I began my first backyard once I was pregnant with Sami. In that backyard she discovered a lot therapeutic whereas processing her prognosis and due to the backyard she was in a position to see the sweetness that’s within the variations – each flower is exclusive and exquisite, similar to everybody on this world.
By way of these flowers, I can now share Sammie’s story with others whereas additionally sharing the lesson I realized: that there’s magnificence in being totally different.
Since beginning Rising Kites, what has been your greatest problem and likewise essentially the most rewarding a part of creating this wonderful nonprofit?
I completely love what I do – truthfully greater than some other job I’ve ever had – however I rapidly realized after we launched that I can not put on all hats. I used to be doing the executive stuff, constructing and delivery baggage, finding sources, liaising with well being services, managing social media, planting a backyard, delivering flowers, operating workshops — all of the stuff.
So the problem has been to seek out individuals who can tackle roles and duties that I haven’t got the flexibility to and likewise be snug with individuals doing these roles. Thankfully, my sister-in-law and sister-in-law, who each have fantastic hearts and are extremely proficient in fields that I’m not, have taken on a few of these duties that have been way more troublesome for me.
One other problem is getting our baggage into these services. Thankfully, we have been in a position to get our baggage to greater than 60 well being care services throughout the US thus far, however discovering the correct particular person to get them by doorways after which into households’ arms is a problem.It was additionally troublesome.
What we have discovered is that services need these baggage however we solely know so many individuals and we won’t at all times discover the correct particular person to make it occur. With that stated, we’re at all times in search of social employees, nurses, and physicians who work straight with these households in order that we are able to make these connections and make sure that households get the care they want once they obtain a prognosis.
Definitely, essentially the most rewarding a part of our work is attending to know the households who obtain these baggage, listening to their tales, and watching them fall in love with their little ones. Rising this group and bearing witness to the methods Sammie’s life has impacted so many is a present that by no means ends. It truly is a pleasure.
If individuals need to know extra about Rising Kites, what ought to they do? What are some methods individuals will help or be part of what you do?
You’ll be able to study extra about our work at Rising Kites and Read our full story on our website.
We even have a number of methods individuals will help help our work, from merely making a donation to serving to us join with their native hospital and/or OB/GYN. For all of the methods to become involved, I’d encourage individuals to take a look at our web site Sharing page.
What are you at the moment engaged on and what are you enthusiastic about for subsequent yr?
I at all times ship baggage. Thank God that this work by no means ends. This yr we plan to ship 1,000 baggage to new households within the Down Syndrome group, which is slightly wonderful however smelly.
I am additionally actually enthusiastic about a few fundraising tasks we’ll be doing this spring and summer season. One is the Rising Kits Backyard Kits, that are for brand new flower growers who haven’t any expertise however need to experiment with rising flowers. In them, I share a little bit of our story about Sammie and the way flowers helped me embrace her variations. It additionally accommodates an initiative to share flowers with others, which we hope will proceed to unfold our mission.
I’ve been working exhausting on this venture and am excited to see individuals all around the nation planting their very own gardens of rising kites and highlighting how the variations convey magnificence to this world.
I am additionally planning a floral workshop that focuses on being incapacity inclusive. It will likely be an occasion the place youngsters can come and learn to make their very own floral preparations and develop their very own flowers, in addition to spend time with people with disabilities and find out about their variations and the way these variations convey magnificence to the world.
That is within the early levels but when it is something like what I take note of it could be a very cool occasion.
Does tIs there the rest you want to share with us?
I simply need to say thanks once more. You and your group have gone excessive for offering us with greater than we may have imagined while you first hit ship to use in your scholarship.
I do not know that we may have had the imaginative and prescient and management that we had with out your encouragement and instructing, and I hope our work will proceed to hold it ahead.
tThanks very a lot for becoming a member of me for this interview. You make an enormous distinction to so many individuals’s lives and you might be an inspiration to me and all of us right here at Floret.
You’ll be able to study extra about Rising Kites and help their mission by visiting their web site website.
You can too comply with their story Instagram And Facebook.
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