Appalachia Testimonials

By all accounts, Jimmy is a genius; brilliant in school, a talented artist, and a whiz with computers. But that's not the first thing most people notice about him. Jimmy lives life in a wheelchair, his hands and feet practically useless to him.

He was born into a life of poverty in Appalachia with a rare disease that robbed him of near-total use of his limbs. But what Jimmy lacked in dexterity, he made up for in brainpower and personality. He earned straight A's in school and won friends easily. Jimmy also crafted beautiful paintings, holding the thin tip of the brush between his teeth or awkwardly clutched between resistant fingers.

By the time he was 11, Jimmy desperately wanted to learn more about computers. But his family could not afford to buy one.

A friend told Jimmy about computer classes in Auxier, Kentucky, that used computers provided by Hand in Hand Ministries. Jimmy could not attend class, but the Auxier Center, a program of Hand in Hand Ministries, was proud to provide his very first computer. Holding a stick in his mouth, Jimmy pecked away at the keyboard and quickly mastered it, able to type faster than his able-bodied friends. When he played video games he used one foot for the mouse and the other for the keyboard. Every time Jimmy outgrew one computer, he was given a newer one.

Jimmy graduated as valedictorian of his high school class. One day he plans to be combine his two talents and become a computer graphic artist.