Friends of Bradley's House of Hope
Our Story
The Bradley's House of Hope Story
Chapter 1: Origins 2005-2012
2005: Bradley Wilson, a child with disabilities from Troy, Ohio was the inspiration to serve children in Nicaragua. Reverend Jim Wilson, Bradley’s father, helped lead the initial project to construct the original Bradley’s House of Hope building in Managua to provide physical and equine therapy for children with disabilities. *See Bradley’s story below.
2005: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital sends the first of many medical teams to partner with Bradley’s House of Hope in providing physical therapy.
2008: Friends of Bradley’s House of Hope was established by Keith and Becky Taylor, Dr. Susan Wiley and Reverend Jim Wilson as a US non-profit organization to raise funding for BHoH programming in Nicaragua.
2009: Bradley Wilson, 1989-2009, passed away on January 11. He was a 2007 graduate of Troy High School in Ohio..
2012: The original Bradley’s House of Hope expands and transitions into a separate Nicaraguan non-profit organization and is renamed Tesoros de Dios (God’s Treasures).
Chapter 2: New Locations and Expansion: 2013-current
2013: Bradley’s House of Hope, Bluefields is established and programming operations are relocated to the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua to serve children with disabilities.
2015-2017: Bradley’s House of Hope, Bluefields expands physical therapy, special education and school reinforcement programming for families to 4 additional locations on the Atlantic Coast:
2015: El Bluff
2017: Kukra Hill and Pearl Lagoon.
2018: San Pancho
2016: Bradley’s House of Hope, Masaya: A new center is constructed in the town of Las Crucitas, in the Masaya region, to provide physical therapy services. A construction team from Lebanon (Ohio) United Methodist Church provided the volunteer work for this project.
2020: Bradley’s House of Hope, Ometepe: A facility is constructed on the island of Ometepe in collaboration with the Bible Church of Latin America (Castillo Church) to serve families with children with disabilities in the community. The building is named The McDonel Center in memory of Jim McDonel, a long-time supporter of Friends of Bradley’s House of Hope. Construction was completed by a team from Lebanon United Methodist Church, where Jim was a member.
Our Work Today
Chapter 3: The Future:
2021 and Beyond: Continued Growth:
- Grow the number of participants served from 250 to 300
- Enhance the programs at the 7 current program locations
- Identify additional communities to provide services
- Relaunch partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to bring medical teams to Nicaragua
Bradley's Story
“Bradley Wilson has been our inspiration in bringing help for children with disabilities. His courage and determination serve as a reminder of the strength and value of all children who are struggling with life’s challenges. It is our mission to bring hope for a brighter future for these children in Nicaragua and other places in the world. All children deserve this no matter where they are born.”
– Keith Tayor, President, Friends of Bradley’s House of Hope
Bradley Wilson was born in 1989 with a life full of opportunity before him. With the hopes and dreams of any parent, Rev. Jim & Nancy Wilson pictured their newborn son with a full spectrum of opportunities and joy. But six weeks later, on Mother’s Day, Bradley’s health took a tragic turn that would forever change his life and those around him. After surviving a full cardiac arrest Brad was diagnosed with Group-B strep infection which eventually lead to spinal meningitis. Bradley would suffer almost complete brain damage and would never progress past the abilities of a six week old baby even though he went on to live 19 years.
Bradley’s parents surrounded him with incredible love and support. Many people travelled alongside The Wilsons in caring for Bradley. From the mountains in Yosemite National Park in California to the sights and sounds of Main Street USA in Disney World in Florida Brad was taken everywhere. An occasional smile would be his gift he offered to those around him who loved him sacrificially and completely.
At age 19 Bradley passed away while a patient at Dayton’s Children’s Hospital surrounded by his parents and brother. A huge 12-foot black granite cross marks his grave in southeastern Ohio.
In February 2005 Bradley’s father was on a mission trip in Nicaragua. He was introduced to a person who was helping special needs children in the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. The comment was made to Bradley’s father, “it is not why children are handicapped, but what comes from the handicapping condition.” Those words gave birth to a deeply held conviction to help children with special needs in Nicaragua.
