Hope for Hannah

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Hannah’s Hope, named for 2-year-old Hannah Martinez of Portage, Ind., recently held a Zumba fundraiser at Portage High School to benefit First Steps of Northwest Indiana, Jacob’s Ladder and Children’s Neurobiological Solutions. | Photo Provided

Updated: March 2, 2012 8:06AM

Hannah Martinez, 2, sat in a blue chair, facing about 40 people doing Zumba to pop music in the Portage High School field house.

She may not have realized it, but they were participating in a “Zumba-thon” to help her and other children with special needs.

The event, held Jan. 27, was a fund-raiser for Hannah’s Hope, which will funnel the money to First Steps of Northwest Indiana, which provides therapy to children though age 3; Portage-based Jacob’s Ladder, a service agency for children with disabilities; and Children’s Neurobiological Solutions.

It’s all part of the mission of Hannah’s Hope, said her dad, Mike Martinez, a mission that is summarized in the organization’s motto, “Helping Hanna Help Others.”

Hannah was born June 18, 2009.

“I would say within the first couple of months, my wife Mary and I noticed she didn’t track things the way babies do” with her eyes, Martinez said.

Doctors in Chicago told the couple that Hannah most likely suffered a prenatal stroke, causing significant brain damage. She has about 25 percent of a functional brain.

“It’s tough at first and then it’s tough every day thereafter,” Martinez said. “We take the small milestones she has and it’s magnified.”

Hannah does react to a lot of things — her dad said the louder the room, the happier Hannah is — and has progressed tremendously in the past year.

Mike and Mary are both 32 and graduated the same year from Portage High School. He is a sales supervisor at Coastal Valley Water in Valparaiso, and she is a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The family also includes sisters Haley, 5, and Hadynn, 7 months.

The Martinez family started Hannah’s Hope about two years ago, and has held an assortment of fund-raisers, including golf outings and craft fairs, since then.

“We’re really excited about what Hannah’s Hope does. The money raised by Hannah’s Hope events doesn’t go to Hannah — it goes to organizations that help Hannah,” Martinez said. “I always say it’s an absolute miracle a 2-year-old who may or may not know what’s going on is helping all these kids.”