Julia Healey, President and CEO, United Charitable. Julia shares stories of donors whose values and choices are shaping lasting charitable impact.
Rachel Brazil learned her daughter Emberly loved the park the same way she learned most things about her: through an eye-gaze communication device that let Emberly, who was nonverbal, finally say what she wanted.
Emberly had Rett syndrome, a neurological condition that affects motor skills, speech, and mobility. She used her eyes to communicate, and once she had that device, she was clear. She wanted to go to the park. She wanted the swings. She wanted to go high.
Getting her there was not simple. Maneuvering a wheelchair, lifting a child who could not use her hands or walk on her own, navigating play spaces that were not built for her, it all fell to Rachel. But they went, because it was what Emberly wanted.
Emberly passed away in June 2020, at age seven.
“I wanted to do something that was coming from a place from my heart,” Rachel said. “And I wanted to give back to the community that had helped us so much.”
In December 2022, she started Emberly’s Smiles.
What Is Emberly’s Smiles?
Emberly’s Smiles places communication boards in public parks so that nonverbal individuals can express themselves once they arrive. Each board is customized with photos of that specific park, so a child who communicates through eye gaze or pointing can indicate which swing they want, which path they want to take, or simply say: I want to be here.
“When she was in that swing, she fit in,” Rachel said of Emberly. “She could just be free and be herself.”
The boards are built through a program called Boardmaker and printed large enough for anyone to see. Rachel visits each park, photographs the actual equipment and features, and creates a sign specific to that location. The organization is run entirely by five volunteers.
Emberly’s Smiles also helped fund a wheelchair-accessible roll-on swing at a local park in Crown Point, Indiana. The project ran approximately $80,000 and came together with significant community support. The swing allows a person in a wheelchair to roll in without needing to be lifted.
At the park opening, a little girl rolled up in her wheelchair and went straight to the swing.
“I just stood there with tears,” Rachel said. “It was perfect.”
Why Communication Matters Before the Fun Even Starts
Most parks designed with accessibility in mind focus on what kids can physically reach: rubber turf, a ramp at the entrance, a standard accessible swing. That is real progress, but it leaves a gap.
If a child cannot speak and no one at the park knows how to ask what they want, the experience is still limited. The communication boards address the moment before the play even starts. What do you want to do, and how do we help you get there?
Rachel put it plainly: “When you get there, what are they going to do?”
The boards create a pathway for connection, not just access. Kids who are verbal can use them too. Parents, siblings, and friends can point and ask. It changes the dynamic of the whole visit for everyone at the park.
How a Family’s Giving Tradition Helped Build the Swing
Tom Hoffman heard Rachel speak at a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Crown Point. She shared the mission behind Emberly’s Smiles and the goal of bringing a roll-on wheelchair swing to the local park. After the talk, Tom came up to her.
He told her the story touched him. During Q&A, he had raised his hand and asked whether older adults could use the swing too. Rachel told him yes, anyone with a walker or a wheelchair could roll right in. Tom said that might be him someday, and he wanted to be able to swing.
A week later, he reconnected. Not long after, the Hoffman family recommended a grant from their Donor Advised Fund at United Charitable to support the swing project.
The Hoffman family’s generosity traces back generations. Tom’s father had planned ahead to establish a giving fund for the family, and that foundation of generosity has shaped how the family thinks about community and impact ever since.
Ivan Hoffman, a financial advisor who works with the family’s charitable assets, said hearing directly from a charity they support changed something for him.
“It’s very different hearing it from the charity’s perspective,” he said. “It’s way more emotional.”
What Happens When Donors and Missions Connect
This story makes visible what purposeful giving can look like in practice. A family with a giving tradition and a changemaker with a clear mission found each other at a community meeting, connected over a story about a swing, and made something permanent happen in their town.
That kind of connection is what donors who give through United Charitable can be part of. In 2024 alone, $6 million in grants reached more than 1,100 nonprofit organizations. Behind every one of those grants is a story like this one.
Where Emberly’s Smiles Is Going Next
Rachel’s goals for the coming years are specific. The organization is working toward 18 new signs in the near term, expanding into hospital and first responder settings, adding library locations, and continuing growth into Ohio, North Carolina, and Illinois, including Chicago Public Schools.
Her long-range vision is an all-inclusive park where every child can play, regardless of ability.
To make the work sustainable, Emberly’s Smiles offers the first three communication board signs free to any city that requests them, then looks for local sponsors to keep it going. Every dollar donated goes back out into the community.
“The more we can get in, the more we put out,” Rachel said.
If a story like this one moves you to give, United Charitable can help you find a giving approach that fits your life and your values. Subscribe to our newsletter to follow organizations like Emberly’s Smiles and stay connected to the work happening across our network.
The roll-on wheelchair swing at the park, funded in part through a Donor Advised Fund at United Charitable.