Letter: Anthony's Dream to Help Billy McGoff

The following was submitted by Diane Grant. It was edited lightly.

To Our Charlestown Neighbors: 

Over the past ten years, with amazing support from the whole Community, Anthony’s Dream, has assisted multiple families of Charlestown as they face down the consequences of a medical crisis.

Typically, a member of our committee will hear of a difficult situation, we will gather together or quickly exchange e-mails, and quietly provide assistance from the funds acquired at our annual Motown night.

However, on two past occasions, we have been confronted by such a profound need that a targeted campaign was necessary. The first major effort, supported a young man in a very long and ultimately, lost battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma. The second, assisting a teenage victim of a tragic diving accident with a major home accessibility effort.

And now, in this first month of a new year, the Anthony’s Dream Committee finds it necessary to organize and announce our “Future for a Family” campaign.

With full confidence that Charlestown will respond, this letter is a clarion call to come together as a community and help Billy McGoff and his two children Conor and Brenna.

As many of you know this family has received multiple blows that no household could survive without the support of others.

It all began three years ago with Billy’s spinal cord injury and subsequent confinement to a wheel chair, resulting in many months of rehabilitation and multiple hospital stays that continue to this day.

The next devastating blow came three days before this past Christmas, with the sudden loss of Billy’s beloved wife Taryn.

As you can imagine, these double tragedies, have shaken the emotional and financial foundation of the household.

And now, this family of three, as if more challenges were needed, has suffered the signs of the times, with the January foreclosure of their home.

Currently, Billy is staying at a Rehabilitation facility, hopeful to get closer to Charlestown. His daughter Brenna faces difficult decisions as her college Christmas break comes to an end. Meanwhile, Conor has returned to an Adult Foster Care setting that both Taryn and Billy, worked so hard to acquire as a resource, for his lifelong learning challenges.

Through this entire storm, Billy McGoff, has remained a proud and optimistic man with a stoic dignity that will inspire the efforts of the Anthony’s Dream Committee.

Our organizational meetings have begun, and will culminate with the “Future for a Family” night at the Knights of Columbus on Friday evening March 30th. The event will be well advertised; the list of business’s contributing to the cause will be growing daily.  It is our fervent hope that you will consider placing your name on the list of supporters.

Please help us help others and thank you in advance for your kind consideration to our request for assistance.  If you require additional information, please feel free to visit or us at our new website www.AnthonysDream.org where you can buy tickets online or donate, or call 617-242- 3907.

It is self evident that help is needed, that this family deserves a future and we must step forward.