SM: What impact have you seen The Miracle Project have on the children?
Hall: The fact that they’re able to grow and evolve; that to me is so important. I have one little boy who came to me a year ago and wanted to be in the project but he just wasn’t ready. Noise really bothered him, and he couldn’t be around another group of kids, even one other child. So I worked with him privately for a year. He was ten years old, but his pretend play was on the level of a three-year-old. We did “Three Little Pigs” again and again, and then gradually three little pigs started to turn into Greek tragedies, and then I incorporated some history and then we started doing “time travel” and adding one child and then another child. Now, that same kid was able to do the project this year and had a lead role on stage.

SM: How has your life changed since founding The Miracle Project?
Hall: As a [result] of this program, I have two phenomenal communities of special parents where we can all laugh about the craziness of our kids, cry when we need to, and support each other. That’s been really amazing!

Also, I believe that I am doing what I have been put on the planet to do. I’ve worked with children my whole life, and being gifted with a son with special needs gave me an opportunity to work with an entirely different population. The kids that are kicked out of every other program are the ones that just flourish in my program. So I get to find a miracle in every single one of these kids.

SM: Has the program helped to raise community-awareness?
Hall: We say the 22-week program is for the children and the family, the performance is for the community. It’s an opportunity to expand their awareness and really [show] what the power of unconditional love can do. It makes them look at a special child that they’re going to see on the street a little differently next time and expands their awareness to unlimited possibilities.