One Mom’s Search for Community, Connection and Hope

February 13, 2026

One Mom’s Search for Community, Connection and Hope

A longtime Niagara Children’s Centre employee reflects on raising a child with a rare disease

St. Catharines, ON – Family life in Stephanie Yallin’s home is full. Full of movement, laughter, and the kind of joyful chaos that comes with raising three young children. Mornings are busy with school routines and lunches. Evenings are filled with snacks, sports, books, and the occasional tantrum or burst of sass to keep things interesting.

“It feels like partially controlled chaos most days,” Yallin laughs. “But it’s the small moments that really make up our family.”

Yallin and her husband, Dave, are parents to Avery (10), Cooper (8), and Teagan (3). For Yallin, Family Day is a chance to pause and reflect on where they have been and how far they have come together. Cooper, who is in Grade 2, feels things deeply and wholeheartedly.

“When Cooper loves something, he REALLY loves it,” Yallin says. "Swimming, bowling, dancing, and learning to ride a scooter brought him enormous joy this past summer."

That ability to find joy has become a powerful teacher for their entire family.

Parenthood, Yallin says, has taught her something she never expected: that joy and grief can exist side by side. When she looks back through family photos, she can trace the hardest moments of their journey. Cooper’s diagnoses. The return of seizures. Learning that tumours had grown again. And yet, in those same photos, life continues.

“We are still hosting birthday parties, going to the cottage, meeting friends at the park,” she says. “When I look back, I am reminded that grief and sadness do not erase happiness and joy. There is room for it all. We can do hard things.”

That perspective began to take shape early on. Cooper was just six weeks old when he experienced his first seizure and was later diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis complex and epilepsy. The news was unexpected and overwhelming. In the midst of navigating specialists and appointments, Yallin remembers Cooper’s medical team asking if they were connected to Niagara Children’s Centre.

“In a strange collision of my professional and personal life, our family became clients when Cooper was about three months old,” she says.

Over the next eight years, the Centre became a constant presence in Cooper’s life. With the support of his therapy team, Cooper learned to roll, crawl, pull to stand, use a walker and wheelchair, and eventually walk. He learned to use his hands with intention, to hold a marker, use a spoon, and print his first letters. He learned to communicate through engagement, babbling, words, technology, requests, and stories.

But Yallin is quick to note that the Centre’s impact extended far beyond milestones.

“They taught us to throw developmental timelines out the window,” she says. “To follow Cooper’s lead, trust our instincts, celebrate small wins, and adapt.”

One moment in particular has stayed with her. A therapist gently reminded Yallin and her husband to step back from the medical concerns and therapy goals and simply enjoy their son.

“She told us to snuggle him, kiss him, sing to him, and remember that he is our baby,” Yallin recalls. “That we deserved to connect with him as just that.” It is advice Yallin still carries with her and one that makes her proud that even during some of their hardest seasons, there was still room for joy.

For Yallin, experiencing Niagara Children’s Centre as both an employee of more than 15 years and as a parent added a deeply personal layer to her connection with the organization.

“I have always been proud to work at the Centre,” she says. “Becoming a parent to a child receiving services made me incredibly thankful to have people I respected and trusted supporting Cooper.” What makes the Centre special, she adds, is the way staff support not only the children and families they serve, but also one another. “I feel really lucky to have seen all of that intersect.”

That dual perspective continues to shape how Yallin shows up for the families she supports today. Her personal experience has given her a deeper understanding of the weight families carry. Medical appointments. Therapies. School planning. Disrupted sleep. Difficult decisions.

“One of the most important things I can offer families is permission,” she says. “Permission to say, ‘This is not important right now.’ If we want families to choose what matters most, we also have to allow them to tell us what does not.”

As Family Day approaches, Yallin finds herself feeling grounded and grateful. Grateful for the place her family is in, even with the unknowns that still lie ahead.

“We have had plenty of ups and downs,” she says. “But we know we can handle whatever comes our way. And we have gotten really good at having some fun along the way, too.”

She is equally thankful to be part of a Centre community that believes so deeply in connection and belonging. For families just beginning their journey, Yallin offers the reminder she often gives herself: this path is a marathon, not a sprint, and nothing stays the same forever.

“Even when things feel overwhelming, phases change,” she says. “Things shift. This too shall pass.”

Looking ahead, Yallin’s hopes for Cooper are simple and profound. She hopes he continues to be surrounded by people who truly see him for who he is and help him feel that he belongs.

When asked to describe Niagara Children’s Centre in one sentence, as both a staff member and a parent, Yallin does not hesitate.

“It is one of those magical places that lays the foundation for everything you want for your child and your family,” she says. “Community, connection, and hope.”

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About Niagara Children’s Centre:
Niagara Children’s Centre provided rehabilitation and child development services to more than 5,900 children and youth last year across the Niagara Region with physical, developmental and communicative delays. The range of services include: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language services, augmentative and alternative communication, family services and therapeutic recreation.

For further information, contact: Michael Morrison, Marketing & Communications Officer
Phone: 905-688-1890 ext. 260
Email: michael.morrison@niagarachildrenscentre.com