September 2021 Touch of Hope Scholarship Winners Announced!

Thank you to all who submitted applications this past month. After many hours of reading and deliberation, we’re thrilled to announce the winners of our September 2021 Touch of Hope.

Katrina Johnson (Left) 

Katrina applied for her almost 13-year-old son who has high-functioning Autism, making it difficult for him to fall asleep and to calm himself down when he is having a hard time or when something unexpected happens. He did ABA therapy in their home from ages 4-8 and then aged out of the program. Katrina says he has made tremendous progress since before he started, but receives minimal special education assistance at school and now struggles to go to therapy. As a single mom, it breaks her heart to see him struggle. In 2019, he welcomed a new baby brother to the family, adding more to Katrina's plate. He is so helpful and patient with his baby brother, and Katrina wishes she could afford to do more for him to reward his positive behavior. She says this would be a way for her to do something just for him, so we're excited to be able to gift them a set! 

Charles Fletcher (Middle)

Charles served in the US Army from August 2001 until September 2007. Upon leaving the army he had his first panic attack and it sent him to the hospital with short breathing and an overwhelming fear he was dying. He was put on medication and that kept his anxiety at bay for a while, but he would continue to have episodes and driving a tractor trailer as a career made it very hard on him. Charles eventually lost his job due to a series of intense episodes of anxiety while driving and found himself unable to attend his family events. He has mentioned he missed the entire season of kickball for his youngest son with special needs. On top of all this, Charles is also going through a divorce so he is fearful of what is to come when everything is finalized. We're sorry to hear of his difficulties and commend him for his strength. Our team thanks him for his sacrifice to service and feels happy to be able to gift him a set of TouchPoints. Hopefully they'll help him along his journey!

Valerie Thorpe (Right) 

Valerie has applied for her nine-year-old daughter Alyssa Thompson. Alyssa is non-verbal and severely impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorder. Valerie says she's a sweet, happy little girl but she struggles with anxiety on a daily basis and it's a problem when her routine is changed in the slightest way. You can imagine how trips to the supermarket are and how it is trying to get into an elevator. She thinks that TouchPoints would help to ease her everyday anxiety and help to make life easier. We believe TouchPoints may be powerful than other methods of preventing nervous system hyperarousal in real-time, so we can't wait to find out!

We are currently accepting applications for the Touch of Hope Scholarship Program. The deadline to apply is the last day of every month and awards are chosen at the beginning of the following month. Applicants seeking assistance with the Touch of Hope Scholarship form should reach out to the TouchPoints Customer Service team at (877)-778-6824. For all other inquiries, including questions about the program and eligibility requirements, please email hello@thetouchpointsolution.com.