Our guest this week is Jessica Ronne of Holland, MI, author, speaker, podcast host, founder & executive director of the Lucas Project and perhaps most importantly, wife and the mother of eight, including one with special needs.

Jess and her second husband, Ryan, have been married for 14 years and between them are the proud parents of eight children: four from her first marriage: Caleb, Lucas, Mable and Joshua, three from Ryan's first marriage: Tate, Mia, and Jada and Annabelle (9) who they had together.

Their son Lucas suffered a stroke in vitro at 20 months; has global developmental delays, is non-verbal, has hydrocephalous, severe Autism, scoliosis, and low muscle tone.

Very sadly Jess' first husband Jason, died of brain cancer in 2010. And Ryan's first wife, Kaci, also passed away from cancer in 2010. The couple met through some mutual acquaintances and married after a brief courtship to go on to have their 8th child, Annabelle.

Jess is a prolific author having published four books:
-- Sunlight Burning At Midnight (2013) a memoir
-- Lovin’ With Grit & Grace (2017) reprinted in 2023
-- Blended With Grit & Grace (2021)
-- Caregiving With Grit & Grace (2024)

Jess is also the founder and executive director of The Lucas Project, a nonprofit organization, whose mission is "to provide recognition, respite and resources to family caregivers of those with special needs."

She also hosts the Coffee With Caregivers Podcast and a blog that goes by the name: Jess Plus The Mess.

Jess is the oldest of 12 children, a dynamo and caregiver extraoridInaire. We'll hear all about Jess' journey, her deep faith and her wonderful sense of humor on this week’s SFN Dad To Dad Podcast.

Show Notes
Phone – (616) 617-9077
Email – jess@thelucasproject.org
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-ronne-4b412670/
Podcast Coffee With Caregivers - https://anchor.fm/jess-ronne
Website – https://www.jessplusthemess.com/
Website: https://www.thelucasproject.org/
Documentary Unseen - https://caregiverdoc.com/ .
Books –
      Sunlight Burning At Midnight - https://tinyurl.com/3fsrekay
Blended With Grit & Grace - https://tinyurl.com/mr25k2rm
Lovin’ With Grit & Grace - https://tinyurl.com/3janr2sv
Caregiving With Grit & Grace - https://tinyurl.com/bdhted3v
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jessplusthemess Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessplusthemess
Pinterest: pinterest.com/jessplusthemess/
Twitter: twitter.com/jessplusthemess

Special Fathers Network -
SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Many of the 800+ SFN Mentor Fathers, who are raising kids with special needs, have said: "I wish there was something like this when we first received our child's diagnosis. I felt so isolated. There was no one within my family, at work, at church or within my friend group who understood or could relate to what I was going through."

SFN Mentor Fathers share their experiences with younger dads closer to the beginning of their journey raising a child with the same or similar special needs. The SFN Mentor Fathers do NOT offer legal or medical advice, that is what lawyers and doctors do. They simply share their experiences and how they have made the most of challenging situations.

Check out the 21CD YouTube Channel with dozens of videos on topics relevant to dads raising children with special needs - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzDFCvQimWNEb158ll6Q4cA/videos

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Special Fathers Network: https://21stcenturydads.org/