I have a Public Relations internship with United Way of Greater St. Louis in the Communications department. As expected, I perform the typical tasks of a public relations intern:
- write articles and success stories for newsletters
- work with our 2-1-1 campaign and our annual campaign
- work with social media (Twitter and Facebook)
- work to promote our 2nd annual Online Auction
- writing public service announcements of various lengths
- translating brochures, articles, press releases, and other information into Spanish
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a success story about two girls whose lives changed completely after receiving help from a United Way agency. It really is a touching story. Read it here:
I hope you enjoyed this. Here's a link to our 2009 campaign video if you want to see it.Two girls at St. Mary’s Preschool overcome the odds
Two young girls who have been enrolled at St. Mary’s Preschool, Madisyn and Audrey, are perfect examples of how United Way funding has helped change lives. Both girls were born with severe disabilities but have strongly benefitted from the services and aid made available through St. Mary’s Preschool.
Madisyn was born blind and had additional severe medical concerns, which prevented development in all areas to occur at the expected speed. Prior to the family’s move to St. Louis, Madisyn and her parents took the opportunity to visit St. Mary’s Preschool. At this time, Madisyn had no intelligible speech, could only walk with assistance, and had several more obvious developmental delays. Upon returning to St. Mary’s two months later, Madisyn’s condition had worsened instead of progressed: she could no longer walk, displayed regression to a great extent in every skill area, and screamed nonstop for the majority of the day.
Audrey, who is two and a half years old, was born with Down’s syndrome and other physical impairments. Although she participated in First Steps therapy one month prior to enrollment at St. Mary’s, Audrey still could not walk. Furthermore, she had no apparent verbal skills. After the developmental therapist conducted testing on Audrey to approximate her developmental level, the scores indicated that she was 9-11 months old in the Gross Motor area, 11-14 months old in the Fine Motor area, and 24-27 months old in the Social/Emotional area.
Madisyn and Audrey, however, have both overcome the odds. Due to help from devoted occupational and physical therapists from Delta Gamma as well as the speech and developmental therapists from St. Mary’s, Madisyn was able to receive daily therapy both at school and at home. Now with two years behind her, Madisyn’s condition has improved drastically. At times it is still difficult for her to communicate her needs clearly, but she has made many improvements in relation to her verbal skills. Now she is able to talk, sing, and walk without the help of her cane, “Shane the Cane.” Madisyn has since moved out of the St. Louis area with her family, but “before leaving, she was just great,” said St. Mary’s Preschool director Molly McCue.
Audrey as well, received several different types of therapy. She can now walk independently without touching walls or holding onto objects for assistance. “Audrey is signing more and is still practicing, but she’s still working hard on her speech and language skills. They aren’t completely there,” said McCue. One of the most important signs of her progress has been her test scores: when retested seven months after she began therapy at St. Mary’s, Audrey scored 15-20 months old in the Gross Motor area, and she scored 27-30 months in the Social/Emotional area. This signified that Audrey’s overall score was 22 month old, which is a huge jump within just seven months of enrollment at St. Mary’s.
Obviously, Audrey and Madisyn have made complete turnarounds in a short amount of time. “They’re hard working, incredibly sweet, very loving, and have come a very long way from when they first walked in the door,” said McCue. With help from the United Way, the changes St. Mary’s Preschool has made are not only possible for Audrey and Madisyn, but also for many other young children.
Well, if you give back to your community, I hope you continue to do so. And if you don't, I hope this makes you think twice.
Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to comment.
