The Warner's Officially Adopted Joshua!

The Warner's have officially adopted Joshua and should be returning to the US in a week.  Thank you again to all who purchased a print or donated to the Warner Fundraiser.  This would not have been possible without your support!  Check back in a couple of weeks to see pictures of Joshua at his new home in Bay City.

The Warner's are on Their Way!!

The Warners are on their way to pick up Joshua! Between the art fundraiser and donations, they are only $1500 short of being fully funded.  The $1500 is what they need to pay for their flights back from Eastern Europe.  Jacob's art can still be purchased and donations can still be accepted while they are in Europe for the next 3 weeks (June 14 - July 3) to help pay for their flight back.  Thank you to all who purchased Jacob's art or donated through WillowsEdge! The Warner's would not have been able to bring home Joshua without your help. 

The Art Fundraiser Continues! Check out the article in the Oakland Press by clicking here.

Read about the art fundraiser for the Warner family in the Oakland Press.  The Warner's are in the process of adopting a boy with Down's syndrome from overseas and need help raising money to pay for his high adoption costs.  We are selling prints of his brother's artwork, Jacob, age 2, who also has Down's sydrome.  The print includes a section from the Down syndrome Creed and comes in two different styles.  You can also make a donation through Paypal or by sending a check or money order.  Go to www.WillowsEdge.net to get more information.  Visit the Current Art Fundraiser section and our Online Store.

Help Bring Joshua Home!

We are working on our first art fundraiser. 

I was introduced to the Warner family through my colleague, Linda Dzurka, an elementary art teacher for Oxford Schools.  When she heard about my idea for art fundraisers, she told me she knew of a family who needed help raising money to adopt a boy with Down syndrome from overseas. 

Here is their story:  Dave and Lisa Warner have been married for almost 3 years.  Lisa brought three wonderful sons to their marriage. Shortly after their marriage they decided they wanted to add to their family. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, Lisa got pregnant with Jacob. After tests revealed Jacob had Down syndrome they did not know what to expect. There was a fear of the unknown and they knew that they needed to take a leap of faith and trust in God.

Jacob is now 2 1/2 and has been such a blessing to their family.  The birth of Jacob inspired them to research Reece’s Rainbow where they learned how some other societies treat disabled children as unvaluable. When they found Cliff/Joshua’s picture, they immediately knew he was their son and from that point forward they have been determined to bring him home where he belongs.

The cost of adopting children from overseas is very expensive and the Warner family needs to raise another $10,000 in order to bring Joshua home.  After hearing about the family and reading their blog, http://www.buildingourvillage.blogspot.com/ I was excited to invite them to WillowsEdge to have their son, Jacob, create a painting that we could sell to raise money for both the Warners and Reeces Rainbow.

Lisa and Dave drove down from Bay City on a Saturday morning and brought their son, Jacob.  Linda and I had Jacob sit on the floor where he painted with acrylics using his hands to create the painting.  Here you can see him create the painting.

   

  

It was such a pleasure to work with the Warners and I appreciated them taking the hour and a half trip to WillowsEdge from their home in Bay City. 

With Linda's help, we have created a final product to sell.  Proceeds from the fundraising will go to the Warner family while any other funds raised above what the Warner family needs will be given to Reeces Rainbow to help other families bring home their children.

Prints are available at http://www.willowsedge.net/ to Help Bring Joshua Home!

Welcome to WillowsEdge

We Are Now Open for Counseling!!

WillowsEdge began with an idea to do art workshops back in November 2010, and grew into opening a counseling agency that included all three things I am passionate about, counseling, art and PowerPath.

I started my career as an art teacher (certified K-12), teaching elementary through middle school students.  I then received my Masters Degree in Community and School Counseling.  I have spent the past 7 years working full time with a counseling agency doing substance abuse, anger management and gambling counseling.  In addition, I have had several part time positions, including working as a substance abuse counselor at an alternative high school, working in the juvenile court system evaluating teens with substance abuse charges, and working at Oakland Community College as an adjunct faculty member teaching courses in Career Awareness and Techniques for Learning.  In addition, I became certified in PowerPath, which screens people for learning difficulties and continue to work as a PowerPath facilitator. 

My dream has always been to take all that I have learned and incorporate it into one business.  This is how WillowsEdge came to be.  All three of my services are interconnected with the purpose of helping clients grow in order to reach their full potential.  

 -Karen Smigelski, MA, LPC, CAADC

Currently, we are offering counseling services with the target date for art workshops beginning in April as well as PowerPath.  Our blog will be completed once all our services are up and running.