Our Mission
Happy Coast Families brings guidance, support, and joy to the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and others who dedicate themselves to the care of disabled or medically complex children within their families.
Our Story
Summer Wilton founded Happy Coast Families when she saw her own children struggling with their brother’s new illness and disabilities. Desperate to make life better for them, she read every book she could find about parenting siblings of support needs children. While she found lots of peer support groups online for herself and her husband, there didn’t seem to be anything available for the youth. Two of the books she read mentioned Sibshops and how wonderful they were. Sadly, there were none in the Mississippi coast or nearby New Orleans metro area. So, she realized she’d have to start it herself. And that’s when Happy Coast Families and the Gulf Coast Sibshop were created.
About Our Founder
Our founder, Summer Wilton, has a career mostly focused on web design and development. She has built websites and digital solutions for a wide range of businesses, government entities, and non-profits. In 2021, she began training in web accessibility, making the web accessible to all people, and eventually gained her Section 508 Trusted Tester certification from the Department of Homeland Security. A portion of the proceeds from her accessibility auditing business comes back to Happy Coast Families to fund our programs and work.