Insisting she didn't want her 'kids' growing up making baskets, Camille sought out a different path for them. "I want my children to be training service dogs," she said. "They like repetition. I can teach them to do what it takes to train these service dogs."
The Geraldis have been providing special needs kids with care since the early 1980s. More than 88 kids with diverse physical and mental disabilities, such as Down's Syndrome, spina bifida, mental retardation, cardiac issues, and many more, have been adopted or given guardianship by them.
The Geraldis have constructed not one, but two homes through the nonprofit organization they established to aid them in their mission, the Possible Dream Foundation (originally called the Up with Down Syndrome Foundation). The Geraldis have outperformed expectations because they have concentrated on teaching their kids to do what they can, rather than what they can't.
Insisting she didn't want her 'kids' growing up making baskets, Camille sought out a different path for them. "I want my children to be training service dogs," she said. "They like repetition. I can teach them to do what it takes to train these service dogs."
But first, she and her staff must acquire the skills necessary to train the dogs.
In order to accomplish this, Geraldi went to Bozeman to work with Hal Steiner, the owner of Rocky Mountain Command Dogs. Steiner, spent countless years breeding and training dogs, including work with dogs for police and military organizations in New York City and elsewhere.
Steiner has devoted his lengthy career to studying how dogs learn. Interviewed for the Bozeman Chronicle, Foundation staffer George Hudanish joked "[Hal]'s part dog." Hudanish came to Montana with Geraldi and fellow staffer, Bill Finks, to learn how to train the dogs.
After searching through countless listings for animal trainers online, Gerdali settled on Steiner. She appreciated how Steiner trained canines with gentle handling, confidence-building, and positive reinforcement. "His method works and it's humane," Geraldi said.
The Geraldis have taken care of children with special needs since the early 1980s. Together, the two have taken in or adopted over 88 kids who have a range of physical and mental ailments, such as Down's Syndrome, spina bifida, mental retardation, cardiac issues, and many more.
With the Possible Dream Foundation, the Geraldi's have exceeded many people's expectations, including those of friends, relatives, doctors, and the birth parents of many of the children they care for, because they have focused on teaching their kids to do what they can rather than what they can't. The pair was named one of President George H. W. Bush's "Points of Light," and the family has appeared twice on the TV documentary show 60 Minutes.
Sadly, however, the Possible Dream Foundation experienced a great loss when Michael Geraldi, lovingly known as "Dr. Mike" by the children in his pediatric clinic, passed March 8, 2016, just one day after his 73rd birthday.
He and Camille were the parents or guardians of 31 children, whose ages ranged from 7 to their 30s, at the time of his passing. Taking care of her kids and advocating for the necessity of offering particular care to people who require it, Camille carried on with her work through the Possible Dream Foundation. After closing its doors a few years later, the Possible Dream Foundation took down its website in 2022.
The world will miss the loving homes of the Possible Dream Foundation where children in need can grow up in an environment where their unique requirements can be met in a loving and advantageous manner.
