A few years ago Josh let a dream take root in his heart – to build a medical clinic in honour of our middle son – Caleb Joshua Freedom Sklar – who was stillborn in 2003. Some of you will remember Caleb well, some of you watched as my baby belly grew during the nine months I was pregnant with him, and some of you attended his funeral in a state of shock at the news of his passing. Others of you met him later on, in a story that Josh or I told about him, or maybe through blog posts or the book that was written about him. One thing I know is that his story has touched every single one of your hearts, and for that I am so grateful!
It is truly unique to learn to parent a child that has passed on from this world. We have found our ways to let his tiny life mean all that it can, ways our Caleb can touch this world with love and hope. This medical clinic is one of those ways, and so we decided it was time to let the idea loose and see what God would bring. It has been the best way we can fathom to parent Caleb – to let him loose in the world in the ways he has touched our hearts, to dream, to love, to hope in his honour. We have seen him do amazing things as we seek to love others in tangible ways with the tangible love that was intended for him.
Mid-August 2016
We started chasing the dream. We contacted an organization we know very well in Dominican Republic – GO MAD. We have watched this organization birth, grow, develop, change, and mature in many ways as they reach out to the people in the DR. When we contacted them to ask if they might have need of a medical clinic, and the amount of funds needed for a project of that size – here is what they answered…
Anna & Josh –
Finally able to get a little time between team stuff to get back with you. First off, I am sorry for the loss you suffered. Doing something like this would be an awesome and lasting way to honor your son while helping many children.
Your timing could not be more perfect. Most of our work takes place in 4 communities. We now have children’s medical clinics in 3 of those communities. We have been working with the ministry of health to get one into the 4th community, but that has not worked out. We just made the decision this past month that the community cannot wait any longer and we are just going to do it ourselves. So, this is why I said the short answer is…yes.
Mid September 2016
October 1, 2016
November 1, 2016
December 1, 2016
And the most recent email from GoFundMe was so encouraging – about $3150 more had come in 🙂
When I check the online campaign dashboard now I see this…
And I know there is at least $400 more in donations waiting for us at our church.
Do you know what that means?
- The $7000 goal is exceeded!
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34 donations of all sorts of amounts came in online – from people of all ages and places in the world
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786 visitors checked out our online campaign page
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160 shares on Facebook
And here are a few encouraging comments from people who donated to the clinic
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So exciting to be part of Gods work
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Way to go, Caleb!
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We love your vision!
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May God bless your efforts
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So happy that Caleb is being commemorated in this special outreach. God bless!
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We love how your family dreams big. Your son will live on and do good through this clinic.
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What a great memorial!
It has been such a blessing to watch as the clinic was funded and the dream spread to more than just our hearts 🙂 Thank you is too small, but it’s all I have 🙂
I will post updates as I receive them from Chantz and continue to share any news about the clinic.
For now, I will let you in on some news that I received from Chantz over the last few weeks…
November 14, 2016
Anna –
We are having delays getting going on the construction. Major flooding going on here for the past two weeks. Rain just does not seem to want to stop. We have had two of our properties flood. Thousands and thousands of houses have flooded. That has kept us very tied up. We cannot even cross the bridge to get to Ascension at the moment.
December 9, 2016
Thank you so much for your help in raising this money. The bridge and road just became passible yesterday to get to Ascension. We will begin with the remodel soon. I will keep you guys up to date with pictures when we start.
Thanks,
Chantz
And so Chantz can move ahead with the clinic with full funding, and hopefully good weather!
There are ongoing costs of about $700/month USD to keep the clinic running, as Chantz mentioned in his first email to me about the clinic:
- $300/month for the doctor
- $200/month for the nurse
- $200/month for medicine
And so about twice a year I’ll do some more fundraising to help with those costs.
For now, feel free to give on the GoFundMe campaign site as we end off 2016, and anytime after. I’ll pass along any funding that comes in to the ongoing costs of the clinic.
Blessings on you all!
Living in the Moments 