Gio's Garden: Hope in Bloom |
In mid-March, Gio’s Garden launched its website, marking the beginning of their goal to comprehensively service special
needs children and their families. Although still in its infancy, Gio’s Garden hopes to one day provide a one-stop shop of
services for families of children (age 0-6) with special needs; families that, many of which, are currently forced to navigate a
labyrinth-like terrain in order to get their children and themselves the services they need, services that are often inadequate. No
one knows this story better than Gio’s Garden Founder and Board Vice President Charlotte Deleste.
Many wake up weekday mornings to hear the news delivered by the vibrant Deleste and her co-anchor, Rob Starbuck, on
News 3 This Morning, weekdays from 5-7 a.m. Since 2006, Deleste has delivered the news to south central Wisconsin and her
face is, no doubt, recognizable across the region. But behind the scenes, when the cameras are no longer rolling, Deleste leads
a life that may surprise some of her viewers. “Some people believe I must have a fabulous, glamorous life because of my job,
but no one knows what my life is really like,” Deleste says on Gio’s Garden’s website.
Let’s start with the fact that, behind the scenes, Deleste is a very real, down-to-earth mom.
“I’m sitting here talking to you in a room messy with toys, in jeans and a sweatshirt and there is a hole in my sock,” Deleste
candidly reveals in an interview with Asian Wisconzine.
Deleste is also a mother who has faced a myriad of heart rendering challenges and devastations. It started when her and
husband Ron Giordan (Gio’s Garden Board Treasurer) discovered their first-born son, Giovanni, was having seizures. At first,
Deleste and her husband believed their son was having nightmares until Gio had an episode while wide awake. The new
parents were told their son’s nightmares were actually seizures and after that Deleste says, “everything just snowballed.” Gio
was diagnosed with epilepsy and soon after doctors found an arachnoid cyst. It was recommended that Gio undergo brain
surgery. It was a heavy, emotional decision for Deleste and her husband, but ultimately they decided to have Gio undergo
surgery in hopes of decreasing, or maybe even halting, Gio’s seizures. Gio was 10-months old.
“I cried and prayed for a miracle,” Deleste says. “I rocked him (Gio) for hours. Even after he fell asleep I wouldn’t put him in
his crib. I would just hold him because I didn’t want to let him go.”
Deleste detailed the emotional battle she faced but nothing spoke louder than the image she described of herself rocking
Gio, while her tears fell down on his face as he slept.
Although the surgery was “the longest five hours” of Deleste’s life, Gio came out of it alright and his parents hoped the
surgery would curb his seizures. At first, it seemed the surgery may have done just that. Still, there were concerns related to
Gio’s development. Then the bomb was dropped: Gio was diagnosed with Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, a rare form of childhood
epilepsy with a pretty dire prognosis. He was also found to be on the Autism Spectrum, diagnosed with PDD-NOS (pervasively
developmentally delayed – not otherwise specified). Meanwhile, Deleste had already discovered she was pregnant with her
second child, the now one-year old Benicio.
With a workday that begins with Deleste waking at 1:30 a.m. and returning home at 8 a.m., a day filled with caring for a child
who seizes anywhere from 4-30 times and cannot be left alone, frequent visits to doctors and specialists, and the physical
demands of pregnancy and post-pregnancy, it was evident the family needed help. The problem; they couldn’t get it.
“It is really hard to get help for parents with children ages 0-6,” Deleste explains. “When Gio turns six, he will qualify for 40
hours. It is hard when you are with a newborn who is fussy and a child who is seizing all the time. It is easy to completely lose
it.”
Deleste was at her breaking point.
“While Gio was getting all the physical and speech therapy we could find and even started going to school a few hours a
few days a week, the ability for my wife to get even a moment of rest during the day became impossible,” Giordan says on Gio’s
Garden website. “Of course, we thought, we would qualify for respite care for just two or three hours a day! But, the denial
came and we were left struggling. The look on my wife’s face and sound in her voice told me she was at a breaking point. But,
for our son’s sake…for our sake, she wasn’t about to give up…and the idea for Gio’s Garden sprung out like a flower opening in
spring!”
Despite exhaustion, frustration and the constant rides on an emotional rollercoaster, Deleste refused to give up; she
“woman-upped” if you will. She channeled her frustration and anger into the vision that would eventually become Gio’s Garden.
She reached out for advice from Sen. Jon Erpenbach and began connecting with health care providers and parents of children
with special needs.
Now, Gio’s Garden is ramping up to meet their first goal; a respite care facility for parents of children with special needs age
0-6.
“What’s the most important?” Deleste asks. “Respite care. It is so valuable.”
She hopes to help give parents the very simple things that are so necessary; a few hours to get rest, time to grocery shop,
opportunities to connect with other children and spouses all while helping to ease the feelings of being overwhelmed, alone, or
helpless. In essence, respite care is a moment to breathe and recharge, while not having to worry about the welfare of a child.
Gio’s Garden hopes to open a respite care facility by October 10 of this year. They are now on the hunt for funding. Meanwhile,
they are “relying on people’s kindness and word of mouth.” On June 10, they will hold a launch party for Gio’s Garden at Scatz
Night Club in Middleton (6:30 p.m.-midnight) which will include local music and a silent auction.
Deleste’s long-term goal for Gio’s Garden is to eventually open a stand-alone building that would provide a multitude of
services needed by children with special needs and their parents. She envisions a place where parents can come and get
virtually everything they need-from therapy to respite to support and more-for their children and themselves.
For now, Deleste hopes to provide parents with some respite; a little something to lessen the stress so that they can look at
their children and focus on what’s important. Deleste touched on this when a smile lit her voice and she talked about Gio. “He
has such a big personality,” she says. “Just because he’s delayed doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a spirit, an energy. He is so
full. It just brings me back to basics; it reminds me to appreciate and look at the little things.”
For more information or to contribute to the cause, please visit www.giosgarden.org.
needs children and their families. Although still in its infancy, Gio’s Garden hopes to one day provide a one-stop shop of
services for families of children (age 0-6) with special needs; families that, many of which, are currently forced to navigate a
labyrinth-like terrain in order to get their children and themselves the services they need, services that are often inadequate. No
one knows this story better than Gio’s Garden Founder and Board Vice President Charlotte Deleste.
Many wake up weekday mornings to hear the news delivered by the vibrant Deleste and her co-anchor, Rob Starbuck, on
News 3 This Morning, weekdays from 5-7 a.m. Since 2006, Deleste has delivered the news to south central Wisconsin and her
face is, no doubt, recognizable across the region. But behind the scenes, when the cameras are no longer rolling, Deleste leads
a life that may surprise some of her viewers. “Some people believe I must have a fabulous, glamorous life because of my job,
but no one knows what my life is really like,” Deleste says on Gio’s Garden’s website.
Let’s start with the fact that, behind the scenes, Deleste is a very real, down-to-earth mom.
“I’m sitting here talking to you in a room messy with toys, in jeans and a sweatshirt and there is a hole in my sock,” Deleste
candidly reveals in an interview with Asian Wisconzine.
Deleste is also a mother who has faced a myriad of heart rendering challenges and devastations. It started when her and
husband Ron Giordan (Gio’s Garden Board Treasurer) discovered their first-born son, Giovanni, was having seizures. At first,
Deleste and her husband believed their son was having nightmares until Gio had an episode while wide awake. The new
parents were told their son’s nightmares were actually seizures and after that Deleste says, “everything just snowballed.” Gio
was diagnosed with epilepsy and soon after doctors found an arachnoid cyst. It was recommended that Gio undergo brain
surgery. It was a heavy, emotional decision for Deleste and her husband, but ultimately they decided to have Gio undergo
surgery in hopes of decreasing, or maybe even halting, Gio’s seizures. Gio was 10-months old.
“I cried and prayed for a miracle,” Deleste says. “I rocked him (Gio) for hours. Even after he fell asleep I wouldn’t put him in
his crib. I would just hold him because I didn’t want to let him go.”
Deleste detailed the emotional battle she faced but nothing spoke louder than the image she described of herself rocking
Gio, while her tears fell down on his face as he slept.
Although the surgery was “the longest five hours” of Deleste’s life, Gio came out of it alright and his parents hoped the
surgery would curb his seizures. At first, it seemed the surgery may have done just that. Still, there were concerns related to
Gio’s development. Then the bomb was dropped: Gio was diagnosed with Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, a rare form of childhood
epilepsy with a pretty dire prognosis. He was also found to be on the Autism Spectrum, diagnosed with PDD-NOS (pervasively
developmentally delayed – not otherwise specified). Meanwhile, Deleste had already discovered she was pregnant with her
second child, the now one-year old Benicio.
With a workday that begins with Deleste waking at 1:30 a.m. and returning home at 8 a.m., a day filled with caring for a child
who seizes anywhere from 4-30 times and cannot be left alone, frequent visits to doctors and specialists, and the physical
demands of pregnancy and post-pregnancy, it was evident the family needed help. The problem; they couldn’t get it.
“It is really hard to get help for parents with children ages 0-6,” Deleste explains. “When Gio turns six, he will qualify for 40
hours. It is hard when you are with a newborn who is fussy and a child who is seizing all the time. It is easy to completely lose
it.”
Deleste was at her breaking point.
“While Gio was getting all the physical and speech therapy we could find and even started going to school a few hours a
few days a week, the ability for my wife to get even a moment of rest during the day became impossible,” Giordan says on Gio’s
Garden website. “Of course, we thought, we would qualify for respite care for just two or three hours a day! But, the denial
came and we were left struggling. The look on my wife’s face and sound in her voice told me she was at a breaking point. But,
for our son’s sake…for our sake, she wasn’t about to give up…and the idea for Gio’s Garden sprung out like a flower opening in
spring!”
Despite exhaustion, frustration and the constant rides on an emotional rollercoaster, Deleste refused to give up; she
“woman-upped” if you will. She channeled her frustration and anger into the vision that would eventually become Gio’s Garden.
She reached out for advice from Sen. Jon Erpenbach and began connecting with health care providers and parents of children
with special needs.
Now, Gio’s Garden is ramping up to meet their first goal; a respite care facility for parents of children with special needs age
0-6.
“What’s the most important?” Deleste asks. “Respite care. It is so valuable.”
She hopes to help give parents the very simple things that are so necessary; a few hours to get rest, time to grocery shop,
opportunities to connect with other children and spouses all while helping to ease the feelings of being overwhelmed, alone, or
helpless. In essence, respite care is a moment to breathe and recharge, while not having to worry about the welfare of a child.
Gio’s Garden hopes to open a respite care facility by October 10 of this year. They are now on the hunt for funding. Meanwhile,
they are “relying on people’s kindness and word of mouth.” On June 10, they will hold a launch party for Gio’s Garden at Scatz
Night Club in Middleton (6:30 p.m.-midnight) which will include local music and a silent auction.
Deleste’s long-term goal for Gio’s Garden is to eventually open a stand-alone building that would provide a multitude of
services needed by children with special needs and their parents. She envisions a place where parents can come and get
virtually everything they need-from therapy to respite to support and more-for their children and themselves.
For now, Deleste hopes to provide parents with some respite; a little something to lessen the stress so that they can look at
their children and focus on what’s important. Deleste touched on this when a smile lit her voice and she talked about Gio. “He
has such a big personality,” she says. “Just because he’s delayed doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a spirit, an energy. He is so
full. It just brings me back to basics; it reminds me to appreciate and look at the little things.”
For more information or to contribute to the cause, please visit www.giosgarden.org.
| Gio Giordan and family (right) Photos by Kate Huntington Photography |
by Laura Salinger
I cried out for help and got put on a waiting list.
I cried out for help and was told I can’t get what I need now: but I will if I can only
wait 3 ½ years!
I cried out for help and was told it’ll cost me money I didn’t have.
I cried out for help and then I got angry.
Really angry.
Gio’s Garden is a direct result of my anger.
-Charlotte Deleste, www.giosgarden.org
I cried out for help and got put on a waiting list.
I cried out for help and was told I can’t get what I need now: but I will if I can only
wait 3 ½ years!
I cried out for help and was told it’ll cost me money I didn’t have.
I cried out for help and then I got angry.
Really angry.
Gio’s Garden is a direct result of my anger.
-Charlotte Deleste, www.giosgarden.org