// HEARTFUL HEROES //
Jennifer Ashleigh Children’s Charity:
When Love Is Not Enough BY MICHELE VINER PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF JENNIFER ASHLEIGH CHILDREN’S CHARITY
Since 1989, the JACC has helped 15,000 sick children and their families through the toughest times. CHESTNUT PARK’S
oes
H
ear
Heartful Heroes
tful H er 1.
2.
s
e
art
roe
H
He
ful H e
art
f u l Hero
es
4.
3.
H eartful H eroes 5.
Mya was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in her hip at the age of 11, and has endured surgeries and chemotherapy. JACC helped Mya and her family with nutritious groceries and helped cover transportation expenses to and from hospital.
J
ennifer Ashleigh Clements was just six months old when she passed away from an inherited degenerative muscular disease in 1989. During those six months, her family faced not only the emotional reality of caring for a seriously ill child, but also the physical and financial reality. Just two years later, the family would lose a second daughter, Danica, to the same disease.
By the time Danica passed away, Norman Clements, the girls’ grandfather, had already put his heartache into action and, in 1990, created the Jennifer Ashleigh Children’s Charity (JACC). Having watched his family live not only once but twice with such hardship,
36
he set out to help other families who were struggling to care for a sick child; families who had limited incomes, but extraordinary costs. Today, 31 years after opening its doors in Uxbridge, Ontario, the JACC is going strong and is a lifeline for eligible families at a point when they have nowhere else to turn. “We work with families in Ontario, often referred through children’s hospitals, to cover costs that are not covered by hospital funds, OHIP, or private insurance,” says Colleen Taylor, volunteer and Chair of the Advisory Board, “keeping with the belief that a family should not have to live in poverty because their child is sick.”
WWW.CHESTNUTPARK .COM // C H E S T N U T PA R K R E A L E S TAT E L I M I T ED, B R O K ER AG E // WWW.INVESTINST YLE .CA
