My Nonprofit Reviews

In September of 2019 my daughter in law invited me to attend a Dare to Be event with her. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. My little guy was not feeling well. August and September had been very difficult months. Our 2 year old foster son had been sick for weeks and we had spent some time in the hospital as he tried to recover from pneumonia. We had also taken in his infant brother. Balancing the needs of our big family had been a struggle. The day of the event I even considered calling my daughter in law to say I couldn’t go. My husband said I should go and that he could care for our son, and the other children and not to worry about him. He encouraged me to get out of the house and enjoy my time with my new daughter in law. So I went. The event was wonderful. During intermission I read in their handout that Dare To Be honors a local woman at each event, someone that serves her community. I was excited to see who they would be honoring from Rochester. I had no idea it was me! I wasn’t even wearing my shoes when they called my name. They presented me with kind words of affirmation in front hundreds of other women. They gave me flowers, a bag of gifts and $10,000! Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. It was like a dream. I will never forget the words on the card, “I AM SEEN, I AM LOVED, I AM KNOWN, dare to be.” Those words and that wonderful act of kindness towards me was so uplifting and encouraging. That November we were finally able to adopt our son! Then in December I was able to take my children on a trip to Disney World. We have been a foster family for 14 years. For various reasons, big vacations have not been possible over years. I had been telling my children that one day we would go to Disney. The Dare to Be Foundation’s generous gift made that a reality for my children. I didn’t expect it but I am so thankful for their gift to me and my family! Our trip was wonderful. Not only did I feel loved and appreciated from their gift, but so did my children.