Murphy House Project

Meet the Murphys:

Like most parents, the home of John and Jeanette Murphy is filled with pictures of their beloved children. That’s a lot of frames when you are Mom and Dad to a family of 27.

The Murphy’s, already the parents of four, have opened up their home to 23 children with special needs since adopting their daughter Shannon in 1983. Their children have various disabilities, including Down Syndrome, autism, and heart defects.

The Murphys’ story began when John and Jeanette were volunteering at a home for mentally handicapped adults. Saddened by the experience, the couple wished that they could do more to help. They came to believe that a strong family environment might be beneficial for youngsters facing similar handicaps. Later that same year, they were overjoyed to adopt Shannon. The rest is family history.

Why a House?

The Murphy’s were third owners of a 45 year old house with approximately 4,000 square feet of living space. As they continued adopting special needs children, the need to provide additional bedrooms and bathrooms increased. Throughout the years, the Murphy’s renovated the house multiple times to add additional bedrooms, bathrooms, and other living space.

Besides living space, the Murphy’s were crammed for organizational space. In their old house, seven boys share one closet and 10 girls share 2 closets, which makes for a hectic morning routine!

Their old house was also in need of a space for teaching because the children are home schooled. The kitchen and laundry room were sized to accommodate a normal size family and had not been remodeled since they moved into the house over 17 years ago.  Can you imagine cooking 3 meals a day for 21 people with one oven and one stove!

What You Can Do:

The Keenan’s Kids Foundation is excited to announce that the construction of the Murphy’s new home in McDonough, GA was completed in 2008.  Additional time was taken to finish off the entire basement area to add more room for recreation, exercises and dance routines to aid in the families unique needs.  While this could not have been done without generous contributions from people like you, the Keenan’s Kids Foundation has also taken on a substantial mortgage and is counting on your future support to help retire that debt.

What We Need Now:

On top of that debt, the Murphy’s need a large safety net to help with the increased living expenses that will come with maintaining a new home. A special needs trust fund has been established to help protect both the family and the house long into the future. You can contribute to the future support of the Murphy’s by providing such things as: