ABOUT CTM

Marty and Jim Norman with their son, Darin, and grandsons, Strother and Hodge.

MISSION

The mission of the Climb That Mountain DAF is to offer financial, educational, and recreational opportunities for children who have physical, emotional, psychological, or developmental mountains to climb.

GOALS

The Goals of Climb That Mountain are to:

  1. Provide financial assistance to special needs children and families by giving them a hand up, not a handout.

  2. Research and donate to existing 501c3 programs that support our mission in the hopes of raising awareness, while, at the same time, educating and encouraging others to consider donating to these worthy causes.

  3. Grow and expand Climb That Mountain into a 501c3 organization, within the next six years.

  4. Educate others, especially children, of the importance of understanding those children who have major challenges and huge mountains to climb, by including them in normal, everyday activities that they would normally not get to experience. 

  5. Support challenged children in the belief that they are experiencing “not a disability, but a possibility.”

  6. Expand the legacy of paying forward blessings to children and grandchildren by encouraging research, passion, and service down to the fifth generation.

THE BACKSTORY

“Into Thin Air” is a movie that depicts the challenges and dangers of climbing Mt. Everest. The mountain is huge and there are many challenges to overcome. To succeed, one must undergo rigorous training, purchase specialized equipment, learn new skills, surround themselves with a supportive team, and prepare mentally and physically for the challenge. 

The same is true for special needs children. Huge mountains that we cannot even imagine are placed before them. This requires specialized training, adaptive equipment, new skills, and a support team of friends and family to help them summit. It is a journey of faith and endurance. If we open our eyes and reach out a hand, we will see miracles.

THE SEED

For the Norman family that miracle occurred on October 8, 2022, when our grandson, Strother, turned 16. On that day, ten years and three months after the automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down, he received his driver’s license and drove away in a hand-controlled automobile of his own. The freedom and self-confidence that resulted from that one accomplishment was years in the making. It could only happen because of the availability of amazing adaptive equipment, as well as the continuing support of countless loving, caring people and institutions that gave of themselves. Because of this support, he was able to drive into a new season of independence and self- sufficiency. Never in our wildest dreams did we think this possible. On that day, a seed was planted, a burning desire to pay forward those blessings that we had experienced over the past ten years. From that tiny idea, which was watered and nurtured, the seed took root, and began to grow. The result:  Climb That Mountain.

THE NAME

Climb That Mountain is the fulfillment of a promise made in the ICU at Cook’s Children’s Hospital two weeks after the accident. It occurred in the dead of night, when this precious 5-year-old, who was hooked up to all kinds of wires and machines, called out to his grandmother, who was spending the night. “Marme, Marme”, he called. “I have to climb this mountain. Help me climb this mountain.” A distraught grandmother, walked over to his bedside, took his hand, looked in his eyes, and made a promise that she had no idea would ever be fulfilled. “I will help you climb this mountain,” she said.  “We will all help you climb this mountain.” On October 8, 2022, that promise came to pass. When Strother drove away in that adaptive vehicle, we all witnessed a miracle, for we saw and knew with our own eyes that Strother had climbed that mountain.