It was a difficult time for Kim and Jeffrey Hoben. On vacation at a cottage and connecting with old friends, they were not expecting the birth of their daughter, Riley to take place. But after a few minutes, it was clear that it was happening now. With no hospital within several miles, Jeffrey had the honour of delivering the breeched Riley himself and then all they could do was get the neighbours' help while awaiting the ambulance.

For Kim and Jeffrey, the situation quickly worsened when they were told that Riley had suffered two strokes - one before, and one after her birth. Even more troubling, the strokes had affected both sides of little Riley's brain. They told Kim that Riley would never walk, talk, hear or see. "We were referred to Grandview right out of the hospital," says Kim.

Like the over 1200 families currently waiting to access services at Grandview, Riley was placed on a wait list. Now months later, working with her therapy team has resulted in marked improvement for Riley.

"At the beginning, Riley couldn't move her head from side to side. This changed with therapy and that is when we knew that Riley would be helped by Grandview," says Kim.

Now at age 2, Riley is able to take small steps holding onto something, speaks a few words and is getting better each day. "We are very happy with her progress so far. She continues to amaze us daily," say both Kim and Jeffrey.

Riley even interacts with big brother Liam, and the family is overjoyed. "I couldn't imagine going through this without the help of Grandview. If I didn't have them I don't know what we would do."

As the population grows in Durham Region, so does the number of kids like Riley, who need help at Grandview. Kim is confident that her daughter Riley will greatly benefit from all the help she is currently receiving from Grandview and that for Riley the future is bright. "You don't know how important these services are until your family actually needs them," Kim says. "Grandview has opened up a whole new world for us."