WEBVTT

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Hello, my name is Carmen Isabel

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Farley.

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I am years 25 old.

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She is silly.

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She's fun.

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She's very loving.

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On a daily basis, I'm very

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proud of her.

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She's smart.

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She can figure things out.

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There's just this confidence behind her

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when she's supported.

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We found out that Carmen had

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Down syndrome prior to her being

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born.

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We were scared and frightened about

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it, but we knew that we

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wanted to have our daughter.

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A co-worker of mine introduced us

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to what was then Upside of

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Downs and encouraged us to go

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to a baby night.

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It was great.

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It really allowed us to see

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people functioning with their children with

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Down syndrome and gave us the

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confidence, I think, that, hey, we

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got this.

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We can do this.

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You know, it's been years. 25

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We wouldn't be where we are

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today, and Carmen wouldn't be where

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she is today without the support.

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It's part of us.

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It's part of me.

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I think it's awesome.

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A lot of what Carmen's been

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able to do is because of

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the support we've had and it

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just keeps growing.

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Carmen was employed with Sunburst Snacks

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and she still does pop-up shows.

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It's a good place to work.

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We put snacks in boxes.

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The cooking with confidence that she

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does is great.

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What do you enjoy about that?

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Everything.

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It is more like an independence

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skills thing.

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She's involved with so many different

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things.

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And again, it's all because of

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Desanio.

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We want to see her continue

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to become more and more independent,

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and she wants that.

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Dasanio has been such a great

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resource in that regard for us.

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It's getting those steps to independence.

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She is really at her best

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when she is with her friends,

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her peers, people that she knows

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and loves.

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She really comes out of her

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shell and, like, she could do

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anything.

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One of the things that has

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really come to the forefront for

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us is how

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critical family support continues to be.

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Now more than of 50% our

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individuals that we serve are

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and over.

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The most important thing for us

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is making sure that we are

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meeting the needs of families throughout

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the lifetime of their loved one

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with Down syndrome.

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The various tools that we provide

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through our programming helps adults, young

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adults, take that next step for

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themselves.

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We want to make sure that

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individuals have every opportunity available to

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them.

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My dream is that we have

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the funds that we need to

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do everything that we need to

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be doing for our community, to

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help everybody in every way that

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they need to be helped.

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We want more than anything to

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make sure that we're doing the

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best that we can for our

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families every day.

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One is to get married.

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and to be a, being a

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dog mom.

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Alex, if you're watching this, I

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still love you.

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The main thing that we would

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like her to do is to

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be independent within a home.

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With all the support that she

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has been given, I think it

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could happen.

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You have no idea how much

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every little dollar that you give

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helps us.

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By donating to Dasanio, we are

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able to utilize those funds to

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support individuals with Down syndrome here

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in Northeast Ohio and make the

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community a better place.

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Thank you for everything.

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How much people does care about

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us makes me feel so happy.

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How much I do love myself

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and how much I do care

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for my friends.

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We have a bright future.

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you