Today’s conversation is with Lauren Costabile, the Founder and Executive Director of Hearts of Joy International. We talk about the struggles and joys of not-for-profit work, the importance of advocating for all life, and how God equips us to do the impossible.
Lauren Costabile is the Founder and Executive Director of Hearts of Joy International. A New Jersey native, Lauren is a Speaker and fierce advocate for those with Down syndrome. She is deeply passionate about serving this population and showing the world the immense gift that these children are. Lauren graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College with a degree in Recreational Therapy and has over 13 years of experience working with children with special needs. After traveling to Uganda, East Africa in 2017, she witnessed firsthand how individuals with Down syndrome are disregarded and seen as a burden to society. As a result, these children are not receiving proper medical care and therefore are dying. This pierced Lauren’s heart and she was inspired to create a program exclusively for children with Down syndrome to receive proper cardiac treatment. In 2018, Hearts of Joy International was born. Lauren also counsels and provides education about Down syndrome and the heart defect to families, communities and orphanages around the world. She believes that no matter what country you are born in or what your life circumstances are, every child deserves an equal chance at a happy and healthy life and will never stop fighting to make that possible!
Hearts of Joy International: https://www.heartsofjoyinternational.com/
