Earlier today, September 23, I did what I love doing. I put an enduring smile on precious faces in Detroit.
How? I presented a wheelchair lift van, and a debt-free, handicap-compliant and furnished home on east side of Detroit to 19-year-old Dreia Davis who has been paralyzed since age 13.
Now a high school senior earnestly desiring to study law in a university, Dreia and her dad, Curtis, had been living in an unsuitable and unhealthy rented house in the west side of Detroit.
When I visited them there some weeks ago, I couldn’t help imagining the difference it would make if they got a worry-free and handicap-compliant home of their own right here in Detroit.
And when I learned that Curtis suffers throbbing back pain due to the innumerable times she’s carried his precious daughter over the years, I decided to also present a wheelchair lift van to them.
Getting a nice brick home and a wheelchair lift van in one day was simply breathtaking. You need to have seen their tears of joy. Everyone present, including Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, was overwhelmed with positive emotions.
It’s always a wonderful thing to help others lead stable, healthy, dignified and happy lives. And that’s what 106-year-old Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (https://drmm.org) is about. I am glad we could offer Dreia and her dutiful dad the help they needed.
But I think the real hero here is Curtis for refusing to give up on his daughter when the doctors told him there was no hope of her survival, and for laboring every day since then to give her the care and attention she needs and truly deserves.
The dominant story we hear is of absent and irresponsible black fathers. Thank God that Curtis – as a committed and responsible father – is showing the wonderful side of black fatherhood in a city like Detroit.
Kudos Curtis! I’m proud of you.
Love to be a part of this ongoing home donation project? Welcome on board. The higher our numbers, the bigger the difference we can make in the community.
Each of us may have a different passion but I dare say the best passion to have is GIVING – giving to those who need help the most. And by giving, I am not talking only about donating money and materials to needy individuals (and organizations) but also mentoring, volunteering and motivating. If you like to do any of those, then we are in the same circle of compassion. We are difference-making givers, and we need to work together. So, let’s connect today!