A Game-Changer
Before Holly and Ben Kladder even brought their son FuXi home from China through adoption, they knew he had a love for sports.
“We always knew he was a sports kid,” Ben said. “Even some of the videos we got when he was still in China, he was in a chair, playing basketball with kind of a toy, plastic hoop. And then when he came home, it was just obvious he was gravitating toward everything sports.”
FuXi’s parents said he’s truly in his element when he’s on the basketball court. So when FuXi found out Show Hope would fund an athletic wheelchair, he could hardly contain his excitement. FuXi was born with spina bifida—a birth defect that occurs when the spine does not close completely during pregnancy—and sacral genesis, meaning FuXi was born without a tailbone, leading to a short torso.
FuXi had also been diagnosed with dyslexia, but when his reading was not improving in school, the Kladders began to pursue vision therapy. After initial testing, specialists discovered FuXi was having trouble with tracking; in other words, it was difficult for his eyes to switch from focusing near to far and back again. Add in dyslexia, and reading became extremely difficult for FuXi. A therapist recommended FuXi attend 35 sessions of vision therapy, totaling nearly $8,000. When insurance wouldn’t cover the therapy, the Kladders turned to Show Hope and applied for a Medical Care grant.
Part way through what the Kladders described as a smooth application process, a Show Hope staff member contacted the family and asked if there was anything else FuXi would need in addition to vision therapy, sharing that Show Hope tries to do as much as possible with each grant. That’s when Holly told Show Hope about FuXi’s need for an athletic wheelchair. Two weeks later, Show Hope approved a grant to cover vision therapy as well as the sports wheelchair.
“I am pretty sure I started shrieking and jumping around the living room,” Holly said. “I shared it with FuXi, and he had this huge grin on his face when I told him. He could not believe it. He was more excited about the sports chair than vision therapy. I was equally as excited about both. It was such a treat.”
FuXi began vision therapy in the summer of 2023. Holly said improvements came slowly, at first, and then began snowballing.
“It was after the vision therapy that we finally saw the growth reflected in his [test] scores,” Holly said. “It’s such a good victory for him. And now he can’t say, ‘I am not a reader,’ anymore. He’s still behind his classmates as far as his level of reading. But he has so much progress that I feel like he has a chance to catch up now; whereas before, it just was something we were struggling to have hope.”
As for sports, FuXi’s basketball team made it to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association finals and took sixth in the nation.
“[Basketball] has just been a critical, key element for him with self-esteem, teamwork, sportsmanship, self confidence, friendships,” Ben said. “It’s just been game changing for him.”
FuXi is one of the Kladder’s five children, all brought home through adoption. Ben said he and his wife knew they were called to adopt before they even got married.
“We just always had a sense, like a calling, for lack of better terms,” Ben said. “It was just something that God was calling us into, asking us to be part of. It was always just really intentional, even from the time we first met.”
When the Kladders began adopting their first child, they were both working full time, so they only needed minimal fundraising to bring their daughter home. When they decided to adopt a second time, Holly was no longer working, and they knew they’d need more help. So they applied for a Show Hope Adoption Aid grant.
“I still remember we were on our way to my brother’s wedding in Minnesota when we found out we were getting a Shop Hope [Adoption Aid] grant for [our daughter], and it was just such a relief,” Holly said.
After adopting their second child, the Kladders tried to conceive. When they were unsuccessful, they felt called to adopt three more times.
“I am so thankful that we have our other three kids, who we wouldn’t have had had we been able to conceive,” Holly said. “We started out with adoption being our first choice. And our last three children were an, in some ways, unexpected blessing of infertility.”
In total, the Kladders received four Show Hope Adoption Aid grants and the Medical Care grant for FuXi.
“Every time something has come up with FuXi, God has provided,” Ben said. “And Show Hope has really been a big part of that. … Bottom line, without Show Hope, I don’t know how it would be possible,” Ben said. “And that quality of life that our kids have would not be what it is without the hope and support that we’ve gotten from Show Hope. It’s that simple.”
This Christmas, we have strategically planned to raise $500,000 for the continuing impact of our work, yet we cannot reach that goal without you. Today, will you prayerfully consider a gift to our Gifts of Hope campaign? We need you.
