Eliza was a sweet, joyful and loving little girl. She loved popcorn and pinecones. She loved watching Frozen, Bubble Guppies and Mickey Mouse, and she would listen to the song “Happy” all day long if she could.


When Eliza was 16 months old she had her first seizure, and after months of doctors’ appointments and neurology tests, she was diagnosed with intractable Epilepsy and Autism Spectrum Disorder at 2 years old.

We soon learned that finding a place where Eliza could learn and grow would be an overwhelming task.. 

We want to honor Eliza’s life by helping families who have similar struggles. The best part of the day was watching Eliza wearing her backpack, happily walking to class alongside her teacher. Every child deserves that chance, and every parent should be able to experience that moment. This is the wish we hope to fulfill through the Eliza Hope Foundation.

From the beginning, The mission of the Eliza Hope Foundation was to create a center that meets every need of a child diagnosed with Autism and other related disorders. That is what we have done and I know in my heart that it’s just the beginning.

I remember imagining what all of this would look like, I remember picturing a sign with Eliza’s name on it, that lit up at night. I imagined the little faces that would walk through the door every day but I’m not sure that I ever imagined how it would feel. When the sign went up just last week I cried, I cried because my heart broke a little that Eliza would never see this beautiful center and I cried because I’m proud of everything we have accomplished.

This center belongs to all the families that have battled to find a place for their children to learn. This center belongs to all the little boys and girls that struggle to communicate but have so much to teach us. This center belongs to all of us.
People ask me what I have learned during this process or what advise I can give to people going through something similar and I don’t really have any words of wisdom. Everything that I know now is actually pretty simple. 

Never give up even when the road seems too hard to go on.
Find purpose to get you through your hardest days.
Be Nice, you never know what someone is carrying with them.
And the most important is to always have Hope.

We miss you terribly Eliza but we have Hope that you are perfect and happy and we will see you again in the blink of an eye. Until then we will help as many families as we can, because that’s what you would want.