The Life: Our Maximizers

Welcome to our Jake Max family, Maximizer Jasey! Jasey is extremely passionate about the arts – he’s always either drawing, colouring or singing &...

Gabe has been diagnosed with NPC (Niemann-Picks Type C). NPC symptoms include: gaze palsy, loss of cognition, swallow/speech, motor control and balance. When he was in high school he held quarterback sack records in same school as a famous NFL player of today. Gabe also enjoyed skateboarding. The disease took this from him. He wants to create a legacy with his art that will inspire and persevere...

Lucy just started college at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is in a two year program called BUILD which totally immerses 16 lucky students with various disabilities into the general student body attending Bethel. She lives in the dorm along side her typical peers. It has now been one month and she LOVES college.

Zoey began to draw when she was about three, but by age six her skills were really blossoming!  Now nine, she spends most days drawing in her art notebook quite a bit - always eager to show us her latest works of art! 

Rikson loves art, and on hot days, or nights after his activities, he loves to paint! It has been great to see how far he has come and is now using both hands!

Artwork is a way for Mark to be expressive in his ideas and way of thinking. With the help of Jake Max, it furthers his outlet to do so. Mark is always eager to make new friends to share his stories with!

She loves the beach and will walk for hours across the sand or sit and splash through the waves until the sun sets. It's one of her absolute favorite things to do besides painting or playing with her sisters.

Charlie was creative and imaginative from an early age, writing stories and performing. His passion for art, however, did not develop until Charlie was a teenager. Around the age of 16, Charlie began a slow decline that ultimately yielded a second diagnosis of Regression disorder. During those very challenging and dark years, painting was the one activity Charlie could find the energy to engage in. 

We like to say her “super power” is compassion. She can sense sadness and pain in others, and is quick to offer words of encouragement, a touch or a hug.  It was not surprising when she wrote her poem, titled, “Friends” which inspired her role as a Maximizer.

Here’s Kitty!!! Kitty was born Sept 3, 2017. We found out at our 20 weeks scan that she had multiple heart defects and some type of Trisomy, later confirmed as 21, aka Down Syndrome. We then found out she had more heart defects and a stomach defect. I feared for her. Even taking a first breath, her body sounded too complex for this world.

As part of the Notre Dame family, Rosemary wanted to created a shamrock for her piece of art.  We hope you wear it in good health, and that it serves as a reminder to count your blessings. Go Irish!  

Kelly was born on May 11^th, 2000 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She came into the world with an innate light and kindness to her, and also an unknown disability, causing her cerebellum to be half of its usual size, affecting her coordination and physical functioning.