Ali Malin

Help change 8 year old Ali’s life with a Service Dog!!

Meet our 8 year old daughter Ali. Ali struggles with Autism and sensory processing issues amongst other co-morbidities. She’s also gifted. Twice exceptional kids (disabled and gifted) face a different set of challenges than other children. Her journey has definitely been unique and not an easy one. Academically Ali is strong and thrives. Emotionally and socially she faces some huge obstacles due to her disabilities. Most people don’t realize how much she struggles internally until they see her lose control and are shocked. As her parents, our hearts break on a daily basis watching her struggles.

Due to her love of animals and their positive affect on her, her treatment team has determined that a service dog will be an invaluable tool for her. With their help we have come up with an extensive list of tasks for a service dog to perform. It will help her regulate, alert her when she is becoming dysregulated so she can use her tools, give her light and deep pressure therapy, help her with anxiety and crowd control amongst other various tasks. A service dog will allow her the freedom to live a more “normal life” and have experiences closer to other peers her age. These things include: going to new restaurants, attending extracurricular activities without mom, to sleep without anxiety, etc. Ali wants to sign up for lacrosse, art classes, drama classes, and attend things like Girl Scouts without struggling or being kicked out due to her disability.

The dog she’s been matched with will be able to work with minimal direction from an adult which will allow our daughter the freedom and independence she craves. Basically, it will help change her life.

We are not a family that usually asks for donations, we’d rather lend a helping hand. That said, the price for the service dog Ali has been matched with is $35,000. Despite being classified by the ADA as medical equipment, insurance won’t pay money towards a service dog. This will be worth every penny, but super expensive, especially on top of all the other ongoing medical expenses we have for her. So here we are, asking for help from anyone who is willing.

If you’d like to learn more, we have started a FaceBook page dedicated to Ali and Joy, the prospect that has been chosen for her. On there we are tracking our journey from joining with MLU through to after they become the dynamic duo team we know they can become. This is the Page’s link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555532204666&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Additionally, Ali has also recently been diagnosed with PANDAS, or Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections. Unfortunately, this disease is not recognized by American insurance companies as something they pay for. Therefore, these fees (in the thousands), will also be something we are fundraising for.

Please donate to Help Hope Live in Ali’s honor today, and ask your friends and family to give, too! We would love to plan some fundraisers in Ali’s honor as well, so if you can help with that, please contact her mom at [email protected]. No matter if you decide to lend a hand or not, thank you for reading this and please feel free to follow us on this journey. Thank you for your generous support!!

Family and friends of Ali Malin are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with Catastrophic Illness.

Ali has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button.

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!