Any time you log onto Nextdoor, it feels like dipping your brain in acid. It’s a nonstop stream of the worst aspects of humanity, with suspicion and paranoia and conspiracy run amok. There has been one ray of light in my feed the last few years: Her name is Cindy Bonsteel, and she’s a mother trying to make sure she can give her son Nathan a special birthday this year.
The thing is, she needs our help.
Nathan’s birthday is coming up on March 22, and Cindy is hoping the citizens of Long Beach will pack a P.O. Box with birthday cards for her boy. Nathan has Down Syndrome and loves getting mail with his name on it.
“He loves mail like no other,” Cindy said. “Mail addressed to him is like hitting the lottery jackpot.”
Nathan is in the same boat as a lot of other young adults with special needs. He was part of a welcoming and nurturing school community while a student in the Long Beach Unified School District. After graduating, however, his family has struggled to find day programs and other supportive communities for him because of staffing issues, a situation that was exacerbated for the Bonsteels and many others by the isolating years of the COVID-19 pandemic.