When an Elbert woman had a seizure in 2000 that left her unable
to walk and talk, she decided to take her lemons and make lemonade.
Debbie Weber made the choice to fight against the odds, recover and
lead as much of a normal life as she could.
During her recovery, she finished her masters in business
administration and also received her Realtor’s license, even though
at times she could hardly hold her pencil.
“I was not going to take my situation and make it a failure,”
she said. “You just keep fighting.”
Weber said her horses and her kids kept her going when times
were tough. She knew she had a responsibly to take care of them and
knew she had a purpose in life. Weber quickly learned that she had
a lot to live for.
“The mind and the brain and the body can heal itself and I was
always seeking improvement,” she said.
Now Weber has a goal and is working hard to achieve it. For the
past five years, Weber has had a vision to bring her community
together, beginning with the children. She has developed a
nonprofit program called the Haven Program, designed to help youth
develop skills, knowledge and community awareness through service
projects. Weber said she wanted to offer kids and teens a chance to
learn life skills outside of the classroom.
“The program will give them exposure to new things and give them
some hands-on experience,” she said. “It will also instill some
responsibility and ownership for the kids.”
The first project is a blanket drive called “B Cuz We Care” and
is a lesson teaching the kids basic stitching and sewing skills.
The project starts at 9 a.m. Dec. 6 at the Russell Gates Mercantile
Building in Elbert.
The blankets will be donated to children in emergency care,
disadvantaged families and men and women serving in the military.
Young children will learn how to sew the edges of the blankets,
while older children will learn more complicated skills such as
crocheting and quilting.
Weber said she is hoping have many more project lessons in the
future such as an auto-care lesson to teach kids basic auto
education, in addition to a plumbing lesson. She said she wants
each lesson to be fun and allow kids to expand their horizons.
“You never know, kids might get inspired and grasp something
that fits and that may be what they want to do in the future,” she
said.
Weber hopes the projects will build camaraderie among the
children, parents and the community as a whole. Her ultimate goal
is to have a life-skills class available in all the school
districts in Elbert County.
For more information or to RSVP for the lesson, call Weber at
303-648-9777 or e-mail her at debbie@thehavenprogram.com.
