The Worthy Turtle Origin Story

Seems all the best stories start with babies …

In 2005 our precious daughter was born. We knew something was different right from the start however it took several months to learn she had a stroke in her last months of development. An injury to the brain from birth is called cerebral palsy.

We soon learned that to help her we would need to work very hard, every day, for years. First, to see her “just” move. She was so still. Then, to hear even the faintest sounds. She was so quiet. Then, crawling: she did it! And walking, when? Would she ever? Yes, at age 3!!!!! Then talking, MIRACLE, as her injury is in her talk center. Then running and now, soaring!!!!!

We had no idea why we received these gifts while other special families had/have yet to see these miracles in their children. However, we knew with all our hearts we would make the most of them.

In 2016 thanks to the overwhelming support of our family, we created Where There’s A Will, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to helping people with special needs reach life-making goals. Why goals? It seems we were always working on new goals for our daughter. In fact, she taught us the "big secret" to achieving hard goals. Since starting we’ve been honored to help many special families, causes and organizations, including Miracle League of Michigan and Mi Work Matters.

By 2021 she was asking an age-old question …

What am I going to be when I grow up?

In 2022 when our daughter was preparing to graduate high school with a certificate of completion, we began to see just how dismal employment prospects are for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

According the the U.S. Department of Labor, unemployment rates are much higher for people with a disability than for those with no disability across all educational attainment groups. We also learned 81% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed in Michigan, compared to 9% of individuals without disabilities.

Sources: Employment First in Michigan Report https://www.miworkmatters.org/mission-1 U.S. Department of Labor https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf

How could we help?

As a family we’ve always encouraged our children to work hard, be generous and look first for blessings. What could she do? How would she work in her community? At graduation there were no scholarships or awards open to her and no glowing letters of acceptance foretelling her bright future. She began asking hard questions about what her life would look like and how she could make the most of her unique abilities? What was God’s plan for her?

Our prayers and discussions led us to one of her greatest gifts: talking. As a baby we were told she may never talk; there was no guarantee the other side of the brain would “take over” for the injured talk center. Yet one day she started talking and never stopped. Then, she started sharing her story here and there and found it exhilarating. She was also incredibly moved by the messages of motivational speakers Nick Vujicic and JT Mesdaugh.

Worthy Turtle was hatched!

In 2023 we launched the social enterprise Worthy Turtle at worthyturtle.com. Worthy Turtle is an L3C or low-profit business dedicated to achieving a social mission. Our social mission is to help people live a better life, INCLUDING people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who need more social inclusion, more job opportunities, and more chances to achieve big dreams.

At Worthy Turtle, we give motivational talks to businesses and schools. We also offer uplifting merch because in our daughter’s words, “All cool brands sell merch.” Worthy Turtle merch is also created, tagged and bagged together with a special needs team.

So, how’s it going?

We’re excited to share what a couple of turtles can do with a little bit of effort and a whole bunch of love, please click below to view our first-ever impact report.