Zia - A Miracle for Monica

[cliaz]

Zia (and huddlers) -

 

Here is the basic setup for the site. If everyone could take a second and view it to make sure nothing looks weird or out of place. If you have found something that doesn't look right please respond to this with your O/S, resolution size, and web browser. That way I can make adjustments.

 

At this time, there really wasn't much i could do for photos and stuff so i just winged it. Once you have the photos you want on the site, email them over to me and i can start adding them to the photo gallery i have. It wont be hard to upload them for you.

 

 

http://amiracleformonica.org/

[Savage Beatings]

with a streak of humorous honriness

 

What does that word mean?

[cliaz]

What does that word mean?

 

 

No idea, i believe it is from honry like "that honry rabbit".

[muck]

ornery

 

orneriness

[Controller]

Very nice work, Cliaz.

 

On the "About Us" page, I saw this:

 

"A simple donate would be greatly appreciated"

 

I would change that to "a simple donation would be greatly appreciated" - in fact, there are several places where "donate" should be changed to "donation", IMO

 

I haven't read all of the pages yet - will report back if I spot anything else.

Edited October 6, 2008 by Controller

[Ziachild007]

What does that word mean?

 

Nice catch Savage...........muck is right, it should be orneriness. Thanks again for your help Cliaz. I was out of town this weekend, but will try to send you some more pictures today or tomorrow.

[Big John]

Was she also known as Monic, as the title of her bio indicates?

[cliaz]

Very nice work, Cliaz.

 

On the "About Us" page, I saw this:

 

"A simple donate would be greatly appreciated"

 

I would change that to "a simple donation would be greatly appreciated" - in fact, there are several places where "donate" should be changed to "donation", IMO

 

I haven't read all of the pages yet - will report back if I spot anything else.

 

Good catch, I changed it in the about us page. Where are the other ones you saw?

 

Nice catch Savage...........muck is right, it should be orneriness. Thanks again for your help Cliaz. I was out of town this weekend, but will try to send you some more pictures today or tomorrow.

 

Changed. NP, whenever you have a moment.

 

Was she also known as Monic, as the title of her bio indicates?

 

Good catch, BJ. This has been changed.

 

Refresh your browsers.

[keggerz]

when i click your link it takes me to the site...but when i click all the links on the left i get the following

 

Failed to Connect

 

Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at amiracleformonica.org.

 

 

Though the site seems valid, the browser was unable to establish a connection.

 

* Could the site be temporarily unavailable? Try again later.

* Are you unable to browse other sites? Check the computer's network connection.

* Is your computer or network protected by a firewall or proxy? Incorrect settings can interfere with Web browsing.

 

EDIT: ok i tried each link like 5 times before posting and now after i post and go back they are all working

Edited October 6, 2008 by keggerz

[cliaz]

when i click your link it takes me to the site...but when i click all the links on the left i get the following

 

Failed to Connect

 

Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at amiracleformonica.org.

 

 

Though the site seems valid, the browser was unable to establish a connection.

 

* Could the site be temporarily unavailable? Try again later.

* Are you unable to browse other sites? Check the computer's network connection.

* Is your computer or network protected by a firewall or proxy? Incorrect settings can interfere with Web browsing.

 

EDIT: ok i tried each link like 5 times before posting and now after i post and go back they are all working

 

 

I was uploading the new contact information. You prolly hit it when i was doing that.

[Savage Beatings]

Under The Accident:

I was told to agree to withhold feeding and hydration. I would not agree to starving her or dehydrating her. That was not something I could not do.

Double negative. Delete one of the nots.

 

 

Under Monica's Bio:

Monica was a faithful Catholic. She loved God and was faithful in church attendance. She was a believer in Jesus.

Seems strange to me to have those things in the past tense. She is certainly handicapped, but I would venture to guess that if she was all of those things before the accident, then you could say that she still is after the accident (even if she can't express it or fully understand it anymore).

Edited October 6, 2008 by Savage Beatings

[Perchoutofwater]

Couple of questions:

 

1. Are donations automatically tax deductible or will Billy have to do some type of paperwork to get them that way?

2. Billy, have ya'll decided what you are going to do as far as try to repair expand the current home, buy a new home, or buy a fixer-upper?

 

The reason I ask, is if donations are deductible, and if there are renovations that need to be done, I might be able to get some local companies to donate some material and/or labor.

[cliaz]

Under The Accident:

 

Double negative. Delete one of the nots.

 

 

Under Monica's Bio:

 

Seems strange to me to have those things in the past tense. She is certainly handicapped, but I would venture to guess that if she was all of those things before the accident, then you could say that she still is after the accident (even if she can't express it or fully understand it anymore).

 

 

Will do and i'll change those items. I haven't really had a lot of time to proof read. That is ulterior motive to this

[whoopazz]

Can you use a darker shade font on the front page? Its a little hard to read. Actually all of it for that matter (or lighter shade background).

[Chief Dick]

From the site:

 

We were contacted immediately, unable to get any flights out the family drove for twelve hours to get to her. We live in Diana, Texas and she was in Amarillo, Texas. By the time we arrived she had already had surgery, she underwent craniotomy and evacuation of the intracranial hematoma. The bone flap was removed and left out due to swelling of the brain. She was placed on a ventilator, there was a subdural ICP monitor and subgaleal drain to relieve pressure on her very swollen brain. There were IV tubes, catheter tubes and monitors to check her vitals. It was not a sight that a mother, father, or sibling wants to see. It was heart and gut wrenching to see her so badly hurt. Her face was badly bruised and swollen, her cheek bones, and nose were shattered, she was totally unrecognizable.

 

What I might change:

 

We were contacted immediately and drove 12 hours to get to her. We live in Diana, Texas and she was in Amarillo, Texas. By the time we arrived she had already had surgery. She underwent a craniotomy and evacuation of the intracranial hematoma. The bone flap was removed and left out due to swelling of the brain. She was placed on a ventilator. There was a subdural ICP monitor and subgaleal drain to relieve pressure on her very swollen brain. There were IV tubes, catheter tubes and monitors to check her vitals. It was not a sight that a mother, father, or sibling wants to see. It was heart and gut wrenching to see her so badly hurt. Her face was badly bruised and swollen to the point she was totally unrecognizable.

 

 

I'll check more later.

[Ziachild007]

Under The Accident:

 

Double negative. Delete one of the nots.

 

 

Under Monica's Bio:

 

Seems strange to me to have those things in the past tense. She is certainly handicapped, but I would venture to guess that if she was all of those things before the accident, then you could say that she still is after the accident (even if she can't express it or fully understand it anymore).

 

Good points. I think what my mom (who wrote that part) was trying to say was that she was very active in her church community, which because of her current condition is not the case anymore. But changin it to present tense makes sense.

 

Couple of questions:

 

1. Are donations automatically tax deductible or will Billy have to do some type of paperwork to get them that way?

2. Billy, have ya'll decided what you are going to do as far as try to repair expand the current home, buy a new home, or buy a fixer-upper?

 

The reason I ask, is if donations are deductible, and if there are renovations that need to be done, I might be able to get some local companies to donate some material and/or labor.

 

1. Here is what I have gathered so far from the huddle lawyers and some of my online reading. Since our project is not an official Non-profit organization or charity, I don't think any donations that are made would be tax deductable. The word I gave seen used in several places is "gift" instead of donations. Still checking on it, but I am pretty sure if its only helping one person than it can't be set up as a charity. Still checking, but thats what I have so far. Someone else might know more on that.

 

2. Not 100% right now. I would love to be able to get enough to buy a new home........either a site built house or double-wide mobile home where she would have more room. But it all pretty much depends on how much we can put together financially. That is of course tempering expectations on the Extreme Makeover stuff. I wouldn't be opposed to expanding the current home, but I would think there is only so much you could do to a 28 year old mobile home. A fixer upper would be a possibility, if I could find one close at the right price I guess.

[Skippy]

I have seen other sites that when you click on the paypal the form is already filled out for you. What I mean is that the person you are sending funds to will be in the right place and all you would have to do is put in an amount.

 

I don't know if that can be done or not but when you click the paypal you navigate away from the page with Zia'a paypal address. If you are stupid like me you didn't already copy that address so you have to open another page to get back to see what Zia's paypal address is.

 

I hope you understand what I am saying and I hope that is an easy addition.

 

Thanks for all the work on this Cliaz!

 

Billy, I wish I could do more and if you were anywhere in my neck of the woods I would have an entire crew of Carpenters, Plumbers, Electricions, and HVAC guys that could help out. I have an idea that I am going to PM to you. You will get there brother.

[irish]

There's some spelling mistakes in "The Accident- through a Mother's Eyes".

 

Very nice job overall though.

Edited October 7, 2008 by irish

[wiegie]

A few thoughts:

 

Since this is a private charity with no tax-deductibility status, you might need to do more to convince people that you are legitimate. A few things might help with that:

 

When you talk about Monica's church, can you give the church's name (and perhaps a link to its website). That way people could at least feel that they could call and ask the church about Monica's story.

 

Perhaps also consider giving the actual names of the hospitals where she was treated. (Also under the "accident" page perhaps consider giving the name of the hospital where your sister worked and the name of the insurance company that screwed her over.)

 

Can you link to any newspaper articles about the accident or any subsequent news stories about her. (Perhaps see if the newspaper's archives has any stories, or check her for articles: www.newspaperarchive.com .) Another possibility would be to see if a local newspaper would do a human interest story about Monica story and the creation of this website. Then you could link to this new article.

 

Concerning "Our Goal"... when I clicked the link, I expected to read what your goal actually was. I think it is very important to have a specific goal in mind or else people might wonder what is going on.

 

I don't think it is necessary to say that she is a believer in Jesus after already saying that she is a faithful Catholic--that is redundant (and as a Catholic, I found it a little insulting).

 

Under contacts, perhaps put the first and last names of the people who are being contacted. It seems a little to casual to just use first names there.

[Perchoutofwater]

There is too much pink on the site. My wife's comment was "I love pink, but this is too much. It is hard to read the pink words on the pink background."

 

I've also set my wife to work on trying to figure out a way to get this to qualify for a tax deduction. She thinks it might qualify for a 501©(3) if the paper work is filled out and the application fee is sent in. Maybe one our resident lawyers or accountants can look into this.

 

My wife also asked if you had pursued any grants? If not, I'll get her on that too.

Edited October 7, 2008 by Perchoutofwater

[Ziachild007]

A few thoughts:

 

Since this is a private charity with no tax-deductibility status, you might need to do more to convince people that you are legitimate. A few things might help with that:

 

When you talk about Monica's church, can you give the church's name (and perhaps a link to its website). That way people could at least feel that they could call and ask the church about Monica's story.

 

Perhaps also consider giving the actual names of the hospitals where she was treated. (Also under the "accident" page perhaps consider giving the name of the hospital where your sister worked and the name of the insurance company that screwed her over.)

 

Can you link to any newspaper articles about the accident or any subsequent news stories about her. (Perhaps see if the newspaper's archives has any stories, or check her for articles: www.newspaperarchive.com .) Another possibility would be to see if a local newspaper would do a human interest story about Monica story and the creation of this website. Then you could link to this new article.

 

Concerning "Our Goal"... when I clicked the link, I expected to read what your goal actually was. I think it is very important to have a specific goal in mind or else people might wonder what is going on.

 

I don't think it is necessary to say that she is a believer in Jesus after already saying that she is a faithful Catholic--that is redundant (and as a Catholic, I found it a little insulting).

 

Under contacts, perhaps put the first and last names of the people who are being contacted. It seems a little to casual to just use first names there.

 

 

A few thoughts on your thoughts. I guess the first thing to let you all know is you all are the first people to see this site. Most of you even saw it before I showed to my mom, some even before me. So I think that was the main reason that Cliaz posted it here, to get some feedback on cleaning it up.

 

I think most of the hospital names are in one of the sections (Bio or the Accident) but maybe not both. Wouldn't hurt to include them in both places. I will have to find out the name of her church up there and the company that she was insured by and get that info to Cliaz.

 

Good suggestions on the news archives. I have the webpage (local news station) where she donated hair to Locks of Love. My mom has it on VHS, but I would like to try and put the actual video on there. I just have to figure out how.

 

Along with "Our Goal" and a much larger picture gallery these are things I am working on getting to Cliaz. I would agree that the contacts could read Billy Sipes - email: Billy@amiracleformonica.org to be more formal.

 

Just want to make clear that I am not trying to come off as defensive, but the story my mom wrote about the accident was just her speaking from her heart about the past events. As a devout Catholic herself, she certainly wouldn't mean it as insulting. I certainly appreciate all of the feedback and suggestions to make it a better and more successful page.

 

--Billy

[Ziachild007]

There is too much pink on the site. My wife's comment was "I love pink, but this is too much. It is hard to read the pink words on the pink background."

 

I've also set my wife to work on trying to figure out a way to get this to qualify for a tax deduction. She thinks it might qualify for a 501©(3) if the paper work is filled out and the application fee is sent in. Maybe one our resident lawyers or accountants can look into this.

 

My wife also asked if you had pursued any grants? If not, I'll get her on that too.

 

No grants yet. I am really still in the early stages of figuring out any options. My original post about it here was the first place I started.

[Ziachild007]

When you talk about Monica's church, can you give the church's name (and perhaps a link to its website). That way people could at least feel that they could call and ask the church about Monica's story.

 

Didn't find anything under the newsarchive site, but did manage to find this in a google search: http://www.stmatthewlgv.org/pdf/9-21-08.pdf

 

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SICK FAMILY MEMBERS:

Sebastian Alaniz Jr., Alexis Aguirre, Chris Anderson, Maria Barrios, Margaret Borchard, Ann Burks, Carol Burks,

Nell Cannon, Pat Cassidy, Sally Cassidy, Sue Cavanaugh, Leland Chambliss, Lauren Cheatham, Alice & David Cofield,

Mary Anne Dunn, Carol Eberle, Russell Faber, Irene Franco, Andres Flores, Liliana Flores, John Garcia, Zana Gardner,

Arlyne Hensley, Sami Hicks, Louie Jordan, Mike Judd, Ann Kelsey, Ed Kleffman, Josie Lobella, Judy Lopez, Bernie

Madrid, Marie Marino, Pete Marino, April McCarty, Catie McCarty, Lillie Meche, Maria Mendez, Cathy Morlen, Teresa

Morrow, Jerry Myers, Bernice Opiela, Fidel Oyervides, Bill Painter, Donna Reindl, Bonnie Ratcliff, Constantin Ramirez,

Maria Robles, Maria Roy, Augustina Sanchez, Nellie Scott, David Searcy, June Searcy, Wilson Shaw, Corey Shive,

Monica Sipes, Doris Smith, Ariana Solis, Gail Stonestreet, Lori Swanson, Lavada Tanksley, Angelo Testa,

David Thomas, Penny Trejo, Bill Webb, Bill White, Jean White, Charles Williams

Edited October 7, 2008 by Ziachild007

[Perchoutofwater]

No grants yet. I am really still in the early stages of figuring out any options. My original post about it here was the first place I started.

 

I'll have the wife start looking, she's good at that kind of stuff. Also, have you looked into habitat for humanity, and what the cost would be, and how much of the labor actually has to be provided by the recipient, and if friends time can count as the recipients? I've a buddy that is a local home builder that does a lot with habitat, I'll ask him about it if you want me to.

[Ziachild007]

And here is the local news story: http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=5811879