The Family
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. Click here to see the bios of each child.
Despite their special needs, John and Jeanette strive to teach their brood – ranging in age from 6 to 40 years – independence, teamwork, and the skills… [ read more ]
Why a House?
The Murphy’s are 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 Murphys have renovated the house multiple times to add additional bedrooms, bathrooms, and other living space.
Besides living space, the Murphys are crammed for organizational space. Currently, seven boys share one closet and 10 girls share 2 closets, which makes for a hectic morning routine! The home is also in need of a space for teaching because the children are home schooled. The kitchen and laundry room are sized to accommodate a normal size family and have not been remodeled since they moved into the house over 17 years ago: Can you imagine cooking 3 meals a day for 21… [ read more ]
The New House
The Murphy family’s new home totals 7,100 square feet and includes an independent transitional wing for the older children with its very own living room, kitchenette, bedrooms and bathrooms. The main house includes a spacious kitchen and dining room, a family room and recreational room, a class room, an office for John and Jeanette, 8 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. John and Jeannette are very excited about the numerous closets for storage, and double sets of most major appliances to make daily routines more efficient.
The new house provides the family with state-of-the-art adaptive therapy features such as a new playground area, a swimming pool, exercise equipment… [ read more ]
Murphy of the Month
Kristina, 7
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Sweet, easy going and cheerful. Birth mother had developmental disabilities and schizophrenia. Shows mild developmental delays. |
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She loves Barney, music and dance. |
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She helps with chores by cleaning her room. |
Calendar of Events
The Murphy House Project has many exciting events coming up throughout 2010, and they look forward to seeing you along with your family and friends! Click through the months below to view the upcoming events. The project is actively looking for volunteer support for the majority of all upcoming events, and the Foundation would love to hear from you about your availability and interest in helping out! Call 404-223-5437 or email office@keenanskidsfoundation.com to learn more about a specific event, about volunteering, or about sponsorship opportunities.
Click here to view our events calendar!
Take a tour of the new home.
Help Us Reach Our Final Goal! (Click Here)
When the Murphy House Project first began in 2006, the plan was to raise $300,000 to renovate the Murphy family’s current home in Morrow, GA. However, it was soon realized that the Murphy’s needed much more than a “remodel”. They were in need of a new expanded home for their family’s expanded needs. The cost of this new home far exceeded the initial estimate, and to date a total of $850,000 has been spent to build and equip the Murphy’s beautiful 7,100 square foot home in McDonough, Ga.
With help from all of you, the Keenan’s Kids Foundation has raised $450,000 towards this cause, putting us half way to our goal! Now that construction is complete and the family is all moved in, additional funds are needed to pay off the loan and assist with the family’s living necessities, such as food, vitamins, cleaning supplies, utilities, etc.
Unfortunately, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition passed over our pleas for help because this family was just too big. With your help and financial support, we can achieve something much BIGGER than anyone could have dreamed for this very special family!
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