Our Story

 

Sophia was a perfectly healthy 4 year old girl until the day she began to fight against a rare neurological disorder, ADEM.  She, along with her parents, spent 2 full months living at CHM while she battled for her life.  When Sophia was in the hospital the days were long and repetitive. When she was lucid trying to keep her calm and entertained was not easy. However, we were lucky. Children’s hospital of Michigan had amazing volunteers who staffed a play room, an art room, and a library where we could take Sophia out of her room to visit. We also developed a great relationship with the Child Life team who would occasionally bring a toy or a craft to her room. Let me tell you, the power of those deliveries was immeasurable. It brightened her mood, helped her through impending often invasive tests, and brought a sense of normalcy that cannot be fully explained. The joy of a child playing with an unexpected new toy is heartwarming and allowed Sophia, and our family to ‘escape’ the repetitive hospital days for a bit. To say that we were grateful to the volunteers and for the donations is an understatement. We swore that if Sophia made it, we would commit to giving back and support the ability to bring future joy to children who are in the hospital.

 

Why Sophia’s Rainbow??

 

Sophia’s road to recovery was very difficult, scary, and at times, overwhelming. During her ordeal with ADEM, her mother recalls the frustration and anxiety of not being able to alleviate her daughter’s pain, misery, and fears. Sophia was a fun-loving and intelligent little girl who loved rainbows and would draw very colorful pictures of them almost daily before she fell ill. On a day when Kristy’s spirits were at rock bottom, a positive sign presented itself.

 

“I walked through the Ronald McDonald House parking lot. On a grey Michigan evening when there was no rain, I looked over towards the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and there was the brightest rainbow I have ever seen directly over the hospital. I then had a sense that she would survive and come home to us again,” she says.  That rainbow was Sophia’s Rainbow and a sign that she would inevitably be ok.  Friends and family all over the metropolitan area also saw rainbows that evening and so became the start of Sophia’s Rainbow, a rallying cry of support for our sick little girl. Once Sophia was healthy again, the only possible name for the charity to help spread a little hope and joy to other sick children was of course, Sophia’s Rainbow!!