When Logan Houptley moved to Nazareth Area School District in 2004, one of his first friends was Mikayla. Mikayla was brain damaged at birth, which resulted in spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, severe intellectual disability, seizure disorder, legal blindness, hearing impairment and numerous other medical conditions. Logan volunteered to push Mikayla in her wheelchair out to recess and in school, and he was later invited to her tenth birthday party. “While Logan was happy to have made a new friend, what touched me was that he failed to mention to his parents that Mikayla was in a wheelchair,” says Mikayla's mom, Kimberly Resh. “It simply didn't matter to Logan. He has always understood that friendship could transcend any differences—no matter how great.”
As part of the third-grade curriculum, students were required to write an autobiography about their lives. “We quickly realized Mikayla could not write her own, so we decided to help Mikayla write her biography from our perspective of how we include her and how she is our friend,” says Logan.
The paragraphs they wrote and watercolor paintings they drew were compiled into the book Our Friend Mikayla, published in 2006. “Our Friend Mikayla is unique because it is a book written by children, for children. And that is the magic behind Mikayla's Voice,” says Logan, who cofounded the organization with Kimberly in 2010. “We wanted to start a nonprofit organization that inspires children to share the message of inclusion through inclusive projects and activities. As an active board member of Mikayla's Voice, I continue to advocate for children with disabilities and their inclusion in everyday life.”
The nonprofit organization focuses on three areas of inclusion: education, the arts and sports and recreation. For education, Mikayla's Voice holds assemblies to teach children to include others and celebrate diversity. Their Wheels of Friendship program brings children together with art by painting with the wheels of their wheelchair and also the paws and tails of service dogs. The artwork is donated to local schools and community centers to serve as a reminder of inclusion. Mikayla's Voice also hosts Tri for Inclusion every year on the last Saturday of June. “The Tri for Inclusion is an all-inclusive triathlon where children of all abilities compete side by side in a 75-yard swim, two-mile bike and a half-mile run,” says Logan, who is looking forward to the fifth annual Tri for Inclusion on June 24, 2017 at Parkland High School.
“Not many 20-year-old young men have spent more than half their lives passionate about and committed to a specific cause,” says Kimberly. “Having grown up with Mikayla, Logan's volunteerism and service has become simply a part of who he is. Learned at an early age, there is no doubt Logan will be a life-long champion committed to all children and their inclusion.”
As a finalist for the Betty Jan France Humanitarian Award with NASCAR, Logan was granted $25,000, which he says will allow growth in all three areas of the nonprofit.
