Gabriela E Espino

North Charleston, SC

South-Atlantic Catastrophic Illness Fund

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In honor of Gabriela E Espino

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2 Radnor Corporate Center
Suite 100
100 Matsonford Road
Radnor, PA 19087

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Drive and Thrive: G-Babe Needs Your Help!

Gabriela (“G-Babe”) Espino has cerebral palsy but that doesn’t stop her from racing…with some help!

Gabriela and her twin sister were born in May 2013 at 26 weeks gestation. As with all extremely premature infants, both girls experienced serious health challenges upon birth, with the most profound one being Gabriela’s severe brain injury. She is now almost 13 years old and her diagnosis of cerebral palsy means she is quadriplegic. As she gets bigger, her needs grow as well. We are fundraising for a mobility (wheelchair) van for Gabriela and for her ongoing needs.

Gabriela’s parents, Damian and Melisa, ensure that Gabriela lives a full life. She attends a school for children with severe special needs, is a regular at church, runs in wheelchair races with her dad, listens to books and bird watches with her mom, chills with her sister and pays regular visits to her grandparents and cousins. Gabriela eats nutritious blended food and is not on a feeding tube—her favorite food is avocado. Gabriela cannot speak but has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh at a good joke.

Gabriela’s care is like running a marathon, not a sprint. And she needs your encouragement to race well! Her parents make use of the help that is available to them from various grants or through the state for medical needs, and schooling, but there are still some large gaps. We are fundraising for her immediate need of a wheelchair van. G-Babe’s SUV was in an accident last year and she needs a van as soon as possible. While her parents are still researching exactly which van is the most suitable, our initial goal is approximately $85K which would buy something like a 2025 Toyota Sienna adapted for wheelchair use.

Marathon giving: Please consider giving a donation toward the van but also setting up a monthly donation to support Gabriela and her family on the race of life with cerebral palsy. If you set up a recurring donation of $25 or more per month, you will receive a “TEAM G-BABE” sticker in the mail (coming in April 2026) and a private photo update from Gabriela each month.

When the van goal has been reached, we will be fundraising for (2) bathroom renovations to make a quadriplegic-friendly bathroom ($30-$40K), (3) larger home renovations to allow Gabriela to enter and exit the house more easily (cost still unknown – rough estimate is $175K – goal will be updated with a more exact number in the future) and through monthly donations, (4) ongoing funds for a caregiver for about 15 hours per week (this would be monthly cost of about $450-$600 to supplement limited funding that is available) and (5) an annual life-giving event for the whole family like attendance at a special camp for families with special needs kids (about $2.5-$3K for the whole family to attend for 4 days).

We have chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and because it provides an extra level of trust that the money is being spent for Gabriela’s needs. If you would like to create your own fundraiser to benefit Gabriela, please contact us and we will help you set it up! If you have practical skills that could be used for renovations, caregiving, or other practical support and prefer to donate your time, please let us know how you want to help!

April 15, 2026

We are excited to share that a home designer from Aiken, South Carolina has offered to help create floor plan drawings for the renovations at G-Babe’s house. G-Babe’s dad has been working hard to create drawings of the current home layout which can then be supplied to the designer for his design adjustments to better accommodate G-Babe’s needs.Once we have the drawings we should be able to get accurate estimates for the exact costs of the renovations.

March 27, 2026

More good news—a second anonymous donor has added $30,000 in matching funds! This means that every dollar up to $60,000 (due to the two generous donors) will be doubled! Your $1 becomes $2. It is our hope that with $120,000 (half matching fund, half other donations) we will be well on our way to having G-Babe in her van and in a bathroom that fits her bath chair. Currently it is very difficult to shower her and most baths have to be sponge baths.We also have a contractor who has expressed willingness to do the bathroom renovations at cost. We are looking for an architect or builder/designer who can help us make plans for the renovation.Please spread the news and help us reach this first big milestone of $120,000 in donations.