SPARTA, Mich. — A Sparta family is hoping the community can help them get new transportation so they can travel together as a whole.
The Breen family has a special set of circumstances that makes life a little bit different, and although they wouldn't change it for the world, they now need some help to do everything they can for their kids.
Two of their children use wheelchairs and require a lot of medical equipment, so they've outgrown their current van, which makes getting around very difficult.
8-year-old Roslyn, and almost 2-year-old Maddox were born with rare muscular development conditions.
"It has definitely changed the trajectory of our family, and working full time and staying home and payments for like houses and cars, and everything," said their mother, Tiffany Breen.
And since little Maddox joined their family, they've outgrown their current transportation.
"We know we need a bigger van, and ideally, we needed it yesterday," Breen laughed, "but the bigger van that we need is a pretty extreme cost for the financial situation that our family sits in."
Both Roslyn and Maddox require a lot of medical equipment, which takes up space of it's own, so their family of six isn't able to travel together. Maddox is on a ventilator 24/7.
"When we're traveling and we put him in a car seat, we actually put the ventilator on another whole seat and buckle it in," Breen explained. "The amount of equipment that we have to fit in our van is astronomical because we have to have backups to backups, we have ventilators, suction machines, and it's just so much space that it occupies besides the bodies and the seats."
"We are making our current van work, but if we ever do things like go to church or to the zoo, we have to take two vehicles," Breen said. "We really want something that will be a forever van, and something that our whole family can go in that our nurses can fit in with us when we're traveling, just to make life easier."
"I'd love to fit all my friends and my family in there at the same time," said 8-year-old Roslyn.
"And then we can also go on lots of vacations," she added. "We can go camping, which my mommy has really been wanting to do, and I think it would be fun too."
The Breen's have already worked with several local resources and non-profits like Lori's Voice for help in the past, so they currently don't fit the criteria for help with a new van from them right now.
"As a community, they have a huge support system," said close family friend, Melissa Graham, "but there's only so much that friends and family can do to help."
"And this isn't a normal situation for families," Graham added, "and it breaks my heart that they can't even just go on a vacation together."
There have been other fundraisers over the past several months as well, but now, they're hoping the community can help them reach their end goal with a GoFundMe, created by Melissa Graham.
On the fundraiser's site, Graham wrote:
"This van will help them travel for all their daily needs, to school, church, the zoo, future play dates and will allow their family to have the capabilities to travel on family vacations all together. One family vehicle. This would be such a huge weight off their shoulders if we could help provide them with the funds for the family vehicle. I am hoping that all of us coming together as friends, family, community and even strangers we can reach this goal and bless the Breen Family. Any donation is a huge blessing, no donation is too big or too small, you would be helping this amazing family more than you even know!"
"I just feel like because of this situation should be a reason that they should be held back from having a family vehicle," Graham said.
"Once you meet them, you can't help but love them," she added, "and I know there are lots of people out in the community that are willing to help and donate to the Breen's, but they just haven't heard their story yet."
"We live life, enjoying every second with our children, and we want to provide them every opportunity possible to experience the world around them," said Tiffany Breen. "We want to make memories and vacations with our family and our children, and we are very lucky that we have friends and family that love us and want those same things for our family and our children too."
"Thank you for the all the people who donate to us, but please do not donate all your money so you can still buy food and stuff," said Roslyn Breen, with a huge smile on her face.
The Graham Family is also hosting a Pop Can Drive on Sunday, Feb. 26 from noon to 2 p.m. at 480 South State Street in Sparta.
They will be set up in the ECC/City Church Parking Lot, and say that all you have to do is drop off your bags of cans and they will take it from there, with all proceeds going to the Breen Family.
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