Chris McDonald

Chris McDonald was born with severe autism, which is not a single disorder but a spectrum of closely related disorders with a shared core of symptoms. Every individual on the autism spectrum has problems to some degree with social skills, empathy, communication and flexible behavior. But the level of disability and the combination of symptoms varies tremendously from person to person. In fact, two kids with the same diagnosis may look very different when it comes to their behaviors and abilities. This proved to be a major issue for the family when the rotted sliding glass door on their house no longer prevented Chris from getting outside, even with a chair blocking the door. A few months ago Chris's mom was upstairs making beds, and when she did not hear Chris downstairs she ran down to find the door wide open and Chris gone. Still in her bathrobe, she ran two blocks down the street to find Christopher with his police uniform on "arresting bad guys." This very scary scenario made David realize they needed to replace the old sliding glass door, but quotes showed it to be an expensive proposition. To make matters worse…

David's wife picked up two part-time jobs while he spent 15 hours a day looking for work. David's uncle was a union carpenter and was planning to replace the door, but he passed away in March of 2014. David was involved with the carpenters trade through the Arc Of Plymouth, an organization dedicated to providing personalized service and support to individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. In his voluntary capacity with the Arc, David would help find carpenters to fix up low income families homes and find shelter for displaced families. His involvement with the construction trades led to an online search where he found the Joseph Groh foundation.

The weather in Plymouth, Massachusetts was not conducive for contractors to replace a large sliding glass door in December and January, but the level of snow and bitter cold made it an even more imperative to complete for Chris's safety. Following completion, David wrote the foundation and said, "The Miller construction team did a fine job putting our door in during the blizzard conditions we experienced during the last two weeks. God bless you and your supporters for the generous contribution of replacing our door."