Meet Doreen Fulton
An advocate, mother, author, and late bloomer who was destined to sprout.
You have spent years fighting for your child.
Now it is time for something just for you.
My name is Doreen Fulton, and I know this journey from the inside.
Because when mothers flourish, families flourish.
I Know This Journey From the Inside
I am a Certified Dream Coach®, Transition Coach, Founder of Believe in a Ray of Hope, and author of Finally an IEP for Me! But before I was any of those things, I was a mother trying to do the very best I could for my children.
For more than three decades, my family has navigated adoption, developmental disabilities, special education, IEP meetings, transition planning, caregiving, advocacy, and the everyday challenges that come with loving a child who needs extra support.
Like so many mothers, I poured my energy into helping my children succeed. I fought for services. I attended meetings. I searched for answers. I carried hopes, fears, and responsibilities that few people could fully understand.
Along the way, I discovered something important:
That realization became the foundation for everything that followed.
From My Journey to Yours
That single realization became Finally an IEP for Me! And it became Believe in a Ray of Hope: this website, the Resources for the Journey, the talks I give to organizations across Northern Virginia, and a growing community of mothers learning to advocate for themselves the way they’ve always advocated for their children.
Today, my mission is to help caregiving mothers move from overwhelm to renewal, from isolation to connection, and from survival mode to hope-filled living.
Through practical resources, personal stories, encouragement, and community, I help mothers remember something they may have forgotten: You matter, too.
The Ray Behind the Hope
The name Believe in a Ray of Hope isn’t just a phrase — it’s a person.
My father, Raymond Gray, was a Merchant Marine at sixteen, a Marine Corps veteran, and a spray painter of massive machinery for thirty-five years. He danced his way back to joy after loss, climbed ladders well into his seventies, and never let the people he loved see his despair — even when life gave him plenty of reason to.
He never sat through an IEP meeting. But he gave me everything I needed to survive the ones I would sit through myself: a formula for turning hope into something you do, not just something you feel.
That formula became this:
Hope + Action = Belief
Belief + Action = Trust
Trust + Expectation = Miracles
He lived every line of it before I ever wrote it down. The Ray of Hope is Raymond Gray — my father, my first teacher, and still, every day, my proof that something good is coming.
Read my early reflections from when this journey began (2008–present) →
What I Believe
Mothers matter
Caregivers need care, not just credit
Hope is not passive, it becomes real through action
Small steps matter more than perfect plans
No mother should have to walk this journey alone
Founder • Author • Speaker • Transition Coach • Certified Dream Coach®
No matter where you are on this journey, there is still hope.
There is still purpose.
There is still joy to be discovered.
And there is always a Ray of Hope.
Warmly,
Doreen Fulton
Founder, Believe in a Ray of Hope
Author of Finally an IEP for Me!