When DeOnna McKay’s son Braelyn got sick two years ago, life changed fast. What started as an illness quickly became a medical emergency. Braelyn went septic and suffered a brain injury, and the little boy who had been running and talking and eating on his own suddenly had to start over from scratch. His family spent weeks in the hospital and left with a long road ahead. Braelyn needed to relearn how to walk, how to talk, how to eat. He needed speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and vision support. He needed, in DeOnna’s words, all of the therapies.
At the same time, the McKay family was navigating a major transition of their own. DeOnna, a mother of three, had decided to go back to school full time at the University of Washington to finish her master’s degree in teaching. Her husband was working full time in Kent. The family had recently relocated from New Mexico and was getting settled in a new city with one car between them. And between Braelyn and his younger sister Harper, they were paying close to $3,600 a month in childcare.
Something had to give. DeOnna began searching for programs that could meet Braelyn’s complex needs while also working for the whole family. The developmental preschool recommended by his neurology team at Seattle Children’s was only two and a half hours a day, which created more logistical problems than it solved. A full-time program that could accommodate his therapies, work with the family’s schedule, and ideally serve both kids in one place felt like a tall order.
Then her husband posted on Facebook asking if anyone knew of programs that might fit. Someone did. They pointed the family to Neighborhood House.
Braelyn’s needs meant he was quickly prioritized for enrollment. Harper’s path took a little longer, and for a stretch DeOnna wasn’t sure it would work out. But the call came while she was taking the kids to the park one afternoon: Harper had a spot too.
Both children now attend the St. Elizabeth’s location, and the experience has exceeded what the family hoped for. Braelyn’s enrollment came with an unexpected bonus: a bus that picks him up from Neighborhood House and takes him to his developmental preschool down the street, where he receives his therapies. The Neighborhood House team stood outside with him every morning to get him on that bus, which was no small thing for a three-year-old with a vision impairment who startles easily in new environments.
Before the school year even started, Braelyn’s teachers, Teacher Kiana and Teacher Trang, invited him in for informal visits. For a week or two before classes began, he came in to play, explore the classroom, and get used to the sounds and the space at his own pace. It was exactly the kind of thoughtful accommodation that made DeOnna feel seen as a parent.
Harper’s experience has been equally personal. Her teacher, Teacher E, checks in regularly not just on Harper but on DeOnna herself, asking how school is going, how the family is doing. They text back and forth. Photos of Harper arrive on DeOnna’s phone throughout the day.
“Everything is smooth flowing from home to school and back. We’re all on the same page,” said DeOnna.
That feeling of trust and partnership is what eventually drew DeOnna deeper into the Neighborhood House community. She started attending parent meetings, then joined the Policy Council, and earlier this year officially joined the Board of Directors. For DeOnna, it was a natural next step.
“I’m always a fan of whatever my kids are doing. I want to be a part of it,” she said.
This spring, DeOnna finished her master’s degree. Her kids are thriving. And the family that arrived in Seattle not quite sure how everything would come together has found, in Neighborhood House, something that feels a lot like home.