 ....................................................................................................................................Donna Marini is an activist and an advocate for victims of spinal cord injury. While driving home from a Lakeland, Florida mall on the eve of her 21st birthday in 1988, Donna unknowingly entered an unmarked intersection on a dark country road. Her car was impacted by an oncoming vehicle traveling at 50 mph, leaving Donna with two broken vertebrae in her neck. She spent her 21st birthday in a coma and the better part of the next four months in two different hospitals. By April the following year, with doctors having done all they could do to stabilize Donna’s condition, it became time for her to leave the hospital. Having regained only slight movement in her arms, Donna moved back home to be with her parents and siblings, who committed to caring round-the clock for her every need for the rest of her life. She spent her first year at home on an emotional roller coaster, one moment happy to be alive and hopeful about the future, and the next very depressed about her frailty and the burden she felt she had become to her family. With that first year behind her, and not much to look forward to, Donna finally received her first bit of good news since her accident. She learned that she had been accepted as a new client at Normandy Manor, an Orlando, Florida transitional living facility. The year was 1990. Donna moved to Normandy Manor and there she began the grueling process that lay ahead - learning to care for herself and regain her independence. What sounded simple in theory became long days and long nights, learning to get herself in and out of bed, in and out of her wheelchair, take a shower, dress herself, cook, clean, do laundry, grocery shop and even drive a vehicle. Several months later it came time for Donna to “graduate” from Normandy Manor, and graduate she did. She purchased a customized black and pink minivan and a home of her own in Winter Park, Florida. She even returned to her first loves - modeling and acting. She accomplished all of her goals and she was free and on her own once again. Thankful for her time at Normandy Manor and thrilled with her new life, Donna immediately began giving back to the facility and to the people who helped her in her time of need. She became a peer mentor and spent a great deal of time in the ensuing years at hospitals in the area, counseling newly injured people and their families - something she still does to this day. She also joined the board of directors for Normandy Manor and worked tirelessly for the next 11 years to support the effort. She saw the facility struggle through rising costs, funding cuts, a location change and even a name change, all the while working tirelessly to raise money and keep the public focused on the need for such a place. Despite Donna’s best efforts, along with the efforts of many other unsung heroes, tough times eventually befell Normandy Manor and the facility was forced to close its’ doors. Angered and frustrated at a situation that she felt was simply unacceptable, Donna promised the people living at Normandy Manor (then called Accessible Alternatives) at the time of its’ closure that she would not quit fighting for them. She vowed that she would get a new transitional living facility opened, no matter how long it took or how much it cost - and they would be the first people she called when she did.
Donna immediately began her lone quest to build a new transitional living facility - with no money and no supporters. All she had was a dream and her own story to tell. So she set out, going door to door, business to business asking for help. This went on for quite some time to no avail. Then one day she made yet another cold call visit to a place called Avalon Park. She had visited Avalon Park at Christmas the year before and felt it would make an ideal community setting for a transitional living facility. She asked to see Beat Kahli, the developer/owner. Kahli was not in, but later that day his office called Donna and an appointment was made for the two to meet - with Kahli having no idea of who Donna was or what she was looking for. Soon after the two met for the first time and Donna told Kahli her story - a story that by now she felt like she’d told a thousand times. This time however, the meeting ended differently than she was used to having her meetings end. Instead of hearing the usual "we can't help you," Donna heard "yes." Kahli was so impressed by Donna’s tenacity that he said yes to her request for help on the spot - just 30 minutes after meeting her. He said he would be the one to help her build a new transitional living facility - no matter how long it took or matter how much it cost. Donna was ecstatic. “I did it! I did it!” was the first thing she told her husband Mike when they saw each other later that day.  After several years of planning, designing and redesigning buildings and searching for ways to make a transitional living facility viable, the elements of the plan finally came together in 2007. Mentor/ABI came on board with Donna and Avalon Park, and the brand new $12 million, 45,000 square foot Keith Ewing Medical Office Building began construction. Keith Ewing was Avalon Park's Chief Financial Officer who worked side-by-side with Donna for many years to make the project a reality. Ewing passed away unexpectedly in 2007 and Kahli named the building in his honor. CCS-Orlando will have 20 beds and will occupy the entire first floor of the building, with the second and third floor occupied by doctors and other medical providers. Donna envisions a day when there will be six to eight facilities just like CCS-Orlando placed strategically throughout the United States.With the new transitional living center set to open in the Spring of 2009, Donna is now focusing on spreading the word about the center and raising money for the Donna Marini Foundation. The Donna Marini Foundation is her 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides grants to ensure that not a single person in need will ever be turned away from CCS-Orlando due to the limitations of insurance or their inability to pay for services. ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
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