Unsung Hero: Mike Hopkins

Unsung Hero:

Mike Hopkins

Friends of the Miracle League chairman Mike Hopkins discusses his long history with the organization in his office at the Newton County Water and Sew-

erage Authority. Tom Spigolon | The News

NCWSA director calls work with Miracle League and its players ‘a joy’

By TOM SPIGOLON

tspigolon@covnews.com

Mike Hopkins says he is just one of many trying to provide a place for kids with disabilities to enjoy the great American pastime in Newton County.

The chairman of the Friends of the Miracle League committee has had a personal reason for leading the charge to maintain the county-owned facility that was specially built for its unique players -- he’s the father of three special needs children.

Hopkins, who is director of the Newton County Water & Sewerage Authority (NCWSA), said it was a “joy” to see disabled players get their chances to play the game at Newton County’s Miracle League complex at City Pond Park in Covington.

The league’s field is designed for use by players who may be confined to wheelchairs or others with mobility issues.

“Our kids are non-verbal and they’re wheelchair-bound,” he said, in reference to his own children.

“To me it was always a joy to see the others that were less severely disabled that could actually move, walk, talk and run, and how much joy they got out of it,” Hopkins said.

“They really take it just as serious as all the healthy children,” he said. “I get more of a blessing than I would ever give back to them.

“When you’re a buddy or a health coach or you take time just to show up and watch them -- they just want somebody to see them.”

Hopkins and wife, Kelli, have one daughter with special needs, Michala, and one daughter, UGA student Marlee, without any medical conditions.

Two others have died after both suffered from forms of mitochondrial disease, including son, Abe, 6, and daughter, Mary Elizabeth, 21, who died three months apart.

Michala is a 23-year cancer survivor who lost her leg at age 1 to the disease. She also is essentially a medical miracle by living to age 24 with Aicardi syndrome, a rare condition that caused her brain to develop without individual left and right sides. It only affects about 1,000 girls worldwide, he said.

“We were always the marvel of the genetics teams at Egleston and places where we were,” he said.

They also were the 17th Geor-

gia family to travel to Colorado for access to medical marijuana to treat Michala’s seizures she suffered from the condition.

“This (NCWSA) board allowed me to commute back and forth every week from Denver to here,” Hopkins said. “My family lived out there and I worked out here during the week and I went out there on the weekend until we could legally bring it back here to the state of Georgia.”

The Hopkins’ children began participating in Miracle League in Rockdale County -- years before its beginnings in Newton County, he said.

“It’s easy to get involved with Miracle League when you have children with special needs,” Hopkins said.

He also worked with Cheryl Delk, Amber Richardson, former county recreation director Tommy Hailey, Stanley Edwards Sr. and others who helped bring the program to Newton County, he said.

“I was thankful to be part of that group -- just some great people that had a big heart for these kids and wanted all of them to be able to play. The healthy and those with disabilities.”

Newton County voters in 2011 approved $1.5 million of the $58 million SPLOST for the project to create the Miracle League facility. The Friends group organized in the same year to be the fundraising arm of the construction effort.

The Miracle League Complex opened in 2015 after three years of construction at City Pond Park.

Hopkins, 52, is a Newton County native and earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer University in Atlanta. He is in his 19th year as executive director and 26th year overall with NCWSA.

He said the NCWSA board has been proactive in getting involved in the community -- in part to let residents know about the safety of their water system.

“To me, it’s part of it. If you’re going to live here, you need to be in the community,” Hopkins said. “A lot of people know and understand.

“Technically, we could be looked at as a monopoly. That doesn’t mean we can’t get out here and get in the community.”

In addition to the Miracle League, Hopkins serves as secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Association of Water Professionals, which is a professional development and resource organization for water utilities statewide.

He said Newton County has a unique system among all Georgia water systems because its supply is not owned by the entity that distributes the water.

Newton County government owns the Cornish Creek Water Treatment Plant and NCWSA distributes the plant’s treated water to its customers.

“(The relationship) has worked well,” he said.

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