Michele P. DeGarmo, MPT always had a calling to help others. She aspired to be a physical therapist since the eighth grade. After overcom- ing many obstacles she finally accomplished this goal at 28. It’s not only changed Michele’s life, but the lives of countless children with special needs and their families.
When Michele isn’t working at the Granville office of Accelerated Physical Therapy with her husband of “14 1/2 fabulous years,” there is a chance you can find her at a small house in Newark, OH. This small house is where Michele operates the ministry she started, Miracles in Motion, a clinic that offers free physical therapy for children with special needs.
“I started this ministry because I was frustrated with the fact that the ‘system’ doesn’t work
for the very kids that it was designed to help,” Michele says. Through the ministry Michele is able to work with children who need specific or additional therapy that may not be available to them. Miracles in Motion also raises funds to help purchase specialized, and often expensive equipment, that is critical to the therapy process of her young patients. With her experience
and sacrifice she has been able to make a difference and directly help these children physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Michele isn’t going to stop here. She would like to make Miracles in Motion an official non- profit organization so she can open up the ministry to even more children in surrounding
communities. She’s hoping to expand her staff of volunteers, has already found a speech therapist who’s offered to donate time, and now is looking for an occupational therapist who would share the same vision.
Michele says she’s been blessed to be part of a supportive community at her church,
Vineyard Grace Fellowship. Here, she’s started a classroom for special needs children and their families as a place where they can “experience the love of Christ.” As if this wasn’t enough, she also volunteers in the children’s ministry and the meal ministry as well. The church has generously donated the house out of which Miracles in Motion is operated. Of the support Michele has received from the church, she graciously says that she “couldn’t ask for more!”
In her personal life, Michele has been blessed with two terrific boys, Kellan (13) and Kyle (11). Michele must lead a joyful life because she says the best advice she ever received was
that “God is in control – give Him the reigns and hang on and enjoy the ride.”
As much assistants as she offers the children of need in her community, it is these children themselves who offer Michele the greatest inspiration. She thinks of the kids she works with as her own heroes because they have “to overcome many physical and mental challenges every day, and they do it with a smile on their face.”