Xavier Long

Welcome to Xavier Calvert Long’s page! We hope that you learn a little more about him and understand how you can help him achieve his goals and gain greater access to the world around him.

How it all began…Xavier is known by many nicknames (X, XC, XCL, Calvert, Cal, Bug Bug, Bubbas, “Bro-vi-er”) but “Fighter” is probably the most notable from the beginning. XCL was born a bit early at 25 weeks and then spent 109 days in the NICU fighting, sustaining, and then thriving. During that time and because he was so early, he suffered grade-four brain bleeding – the equivalent of having a stroke. These injuries affected his future neural development, the extent of which could not be fully determined. This then led to him later having a neurologist diagnose him with cerebral palsy.

Since his time leaving the NICU, he’s had multiple eye surgeries and received glasses to preserve and improve his vision. He’s received injections of BOTOX and stem cells to hopefully better allow his body engage with the world better. XC has acquired multiple types of equipment and devices to help him stay healthy and interact with his environment – some through insurance, others through grants, and others still paid for by the family or with help from the village. He’s traveled to see and meet new therapists or to help teach therapists about how their help and attention can keep a child smiling and laughing.

This takes us up to this point, where we reach out and ask that our family, framily, and friends (old and new) consider offering support in quest of raising funds to support an amazing nonprofit – Help Hope Live. This group is instrumental in supporting children like XC (and their families) to fund uninsured medical treatments or equipment expenses associated with their injuries and/or disabilities. In XCL’s case, your generosity will help him grow and develop through the use of different types of equipment and attending intensive therapies aimed to help him achieve more than any singular person that loves him could conjure up.

While Xavier (with tenacious support and dedication from his amazing mom – April) has had some success through his insurance(s) to fund certain services or approve procurement of various equipment that are key to his mental, physical, and social development there is more opportunity to be gained or discovered. In some instances these services can be expensive with short windows of opportunity to use like additional surgeries or equipment deemed “unnecessary” by his insurance providers. Future adjustments may be required to make the home more accessible. Thus, the need for fiscal support exists.

How you can help:
Please consider a donation to Help Hope Live in honor of Xavier Calvert Long.
Your charitable donation will help to support medical care, therapies, ADA adaptations to his home, or medical and rehabilitation equipment. As a 501c3 non-profit organization Help Hope Live is ranked in the top 1% of all U.S. charities by Charity Navigator and recommended by the Reeve Foundation and has a campaign in honor of Xavier as part of their Southwest Catastrophic Injury Fund.

Xavier and his family have chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. All those who choose to contribute 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!
Any help you can provide is greatly needed and deeply appreciated.

If you wish to learn more about XCL, you can check out the blog his mom and dad have been updating since his time in the NICU for 109 long days when he weighed just over one pound – https://aprilanddjlong.wixsite.com/website and https://aprilanddjlong.wixsite.com/xclpart2. You can also follow him for more frequent updates on Instagram – @xcl_at_life.

Thank you for your consideration along with your current and sustained support!