Celebrating a Wonderful Summer with Let’s Make Connections!
July 15, 2024It's my first blog!!
Hi, I’m Betsy! I’m the co-founder of KennedyStrong Foundation, a mother of 4 kiddos, married to the most awesome man ever and a workaholic 🙂 I love helping people, to a fault at times. I’m passionate about health. After losing 20lbs on a health program in 2020 I realized first hand how impactful nutrition is to mental health and emotional stability and BOOM! I was sold on the benefits. I’ve been working towards becoming my best self physically, mentally and financially ever since.
I have a dream to create a community where my youngest, who has Down syndrome, can live, work, play and learn. I’m calling it Independence Village. It’s important to me that she lives a life with as much independence as possible and that she has purpose. I’m defining that by independent living with supports and employment (30 hours a week) and a social life. Independence Village will be my gift to her. It will offer Independent living with supports and employment options within walking distance or closed loop transportation with an employment partner aka an employer who has been trained in inclusive practices, embraces the value of all individuals, pays a competitive wage and offers 32 hours of employment including benefits to people with IDD.
Throughout this blog and my podcast, we will get to know each other. I’m inviting you to get to know me, the co-founder and director of KennedyStrong Foundation. I’ll share what drives me, what excites me, what hurts me and sometimes I’ll share what ticks me off., although that’s code for something that disappointed me or missed my expectations. I promise to be transparent and vulnerable. I promise to give you 100% of me with the intention of inspiring you to believe in my vision for Independence Village and for you to live into the best version of yourself with purpose.
As we get to know each other I want you to know that my purpose is pure. I believe you and I were created for purpose. We each have gifts, talents and abilities that make us unique. We have a responsibility to share those gifts talents and abilities with others to make the world a better place, to contribute and give back.
I’m direct. I shot from the hip. I care deeply and I can be hurt easily. I want the best for my kids and I’ll fight for them every single day. I want them each to grow up to become the best versions of themselves to become contributing members of their community and to live a life of purpose.
So, here we go friends. I’ll share my thoughts and invite others to share along as well. If you’d like to learn more or talk offline, please reach out. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us as we journey together towards of Independence Village.
XO, Betsy