Welcome to the Thrive DS Foundation. Please consider partnering with us to make a life-changing difference.
We proudly serve and support people with Down Syndrome and related intellectual disabilities to become functionally independent and able to live more full lives. They have more to offer than many stereotypes suggest – more love, more joy, more smiles, more fun, more laughter, more time, more compassion and more ability.
Why “Thrive”? Thriving people are more confident, more energised and are better able to respond to challenges.
Definition of Thrive: Grow vigorously; flourish; blossom; develop; succeed.
When a farmer sows seed, he has hope and faith for a good harvest. He knows that he may not get the full harvest that he hopes for, and plants for, but he will get a harvest.
If no seed is sown because of low expectations, without hope and faith, there will not be “no harvest”, but rather the harvest will be of weeds and invasive vegetation which takes over where the land is not cultivated with purpose.
It is the same with the life of a child. If you invest into the life of the child with hope, faith and expectation for their development, you have no guarantee of the outcome. Ongoing engagement, nurturing and care ensures that each person will develop to a greater level of their potential.
If you do not invest in the life of a child because you have no expectation or hope, undesirable things will manifest in that child’s life because there is no purposeful, intentional investment in their development. Sadly, we have such children in our care. They need much help, and respond well to positive input and nurturing. It does, however, take much time and input to try to remedy such deficiencies.
A biblical definition of thriving:
Jeremiah 17:7-8 – “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a river bank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit.”
