The Eli of The Eli Effect

E was born with something called SMA. Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Which most of you probably didn’t know what he “had.”

Because he had more than SMA.

He had friends. Tons of them. If you met E, you were instantly his friend. He was magnetic in that way.
He had neighbors. When E was 2, we were fighting with an insurance company to provide an electric wheelchair for him. It was a long, emotional, battle. Our neighbor on S Vine St saw an electric wheelchair at a garage sale, shoved it into the back of his car, and bought it for E. He brought out the best in people.

The neighborhood we live in now, bought gold bows to put on mailboxes after Eli passed away. As a memorial to him. I love seeing them. Tons of them. Attached to almost all of our neighbors mailboxes. He transformed neighborhoods.

E had a school community. When Eli first started preschool in our school district, each classroom had typical kids and kids with disabilities. Half and half. This preschool had no way to access half of the building, inside, due to a stairwell and no ramp. E, and other children with physical disabilities had to roll around half of the building, outside, in frigid temperatures, or through rain, to get to this part. That was not OK. I made that known that it was not OK. I contacted the Ohio State School Board, contractors on pricing, and then the Ohio Department of Education financial department to see what legally had to be done. The next year, we had a ramp inside that building. The year after that, we had a handicap bathroom, and a paved path to a handicap swing on the playground at Eli’s elementary school. His elementary school changed the flow of things. Recess included a lot of blacktop time with four square, bikes, and Eli wheelchair rides. The school community transformed.

E has Warrior brothers.

Eli was his big brothers biggest fan, but also, the biggest fan of every teammate Luke ever had. These boys don’t know a football sideline, a dugout, or a basketball bench that doesn’t have Eli on it. Luke’s teams, were Eli’s teams. Eli’s favorite gold jersey is from Luke’s 6th grade football team, that Luke’s coach ensured Eli be a part of, down to Eli scoring a touchdown. And the brothers beside Eli when he scored, were possibly more excited than even he was, that he got into the end zone. He transformed our sports community.

E has a family.

I’m not quite sure how we got so lucky, that God gave us Eli, but man, I am so glad he did. We had constant front row seats to every win, kind gesture, joke, and heart touching moment for E. We also had the closest seat to Eli’s heartbreak. A view of how his disability excluded him. How kids excluded him. How adults excluded him. How people stared at him. How they felt uncomfortable around him. And the gnawing disappointment Eli felt by not being able to fully participate in all of the sports he loved so deeply. He transformed hearts.

How did Eli transform you?

• When you see an inaccessible restaurant, do you ask the manager where the ramp is?
• When you see a kid being left out of something, do you engage them, and find a way to include them?
• Do you notice a coworker who isn’t normally included on the take out order, and ask what they’d like to eat?

This is The Eli Effect. It’s providing things, experiences and resources, yes. But at the heart? We want to change worldviews. Open them.
And we will. With your help.