Posts

Merry Christmas!

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Dear Friends of Angels' Place, Our Christmas wishes are that you have time to enjoy your family and that you might have time to reflect on the first Christmas in the context of things you experience today. You might think about the three journeys at the heart of the Christmas story: Mary and Joseph traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem; the three kings traveling from the East; Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. As we think about these journeys, we are grateful for the many journeys you share with our residents. The journeys of Bob, Dan, Diana, and Tara - individuals who moved into an Angels Place home for the first time in the last year. There, they will be cared for, well fed, and lead enriching lives. Because you walk the journey with them, their initial trepidation turns into comfort; their guardian's fear turns into confidence. The journeys of our aging residents who often suffer with challenges that co-occur with intellectual and developmenta...
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There is Work to be Done

Annual Gifts Drive Our Day-to-Day Work Last week, we received several heartbreaking calls from dear friends of Angels' Place. Their acquaintance had suddenly passed away in Northern Michigan and were hoping we might consider opening a new home there including the acquaintance's special needs son.  Sadly, before they fully posed their idea, their own words helped them understand that the hands-on, in-person nature of our work - recruiting caregivers, training and mentoring them, managing complex reporting and compliance, working in collaboration with families and healthcare providers, providing resident enrichment activities, managing home maintenance = made the distant location impractical.  We offered two imperfect solutions - add the son to our waitlist for future residential consideration, or leverage our experiences as consultants to create their own version of "Angels' Place" in their area.  Unfortunately, this story is not uncommon. Every week, parents come ...
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This Too Will Get Done

Hopefully with a smile.  Always with love. Dear Friends: In the last edition of this newsletter, I shared a story about my Dad and some of the lessons he shared with us.  The story struck a chord with many of you, so I hope you will indulge me with another. As my Dad aged, he increasingly needed help with work around the house.  Because he was so kind, he always preceded the request with “I hate to ask, but…”. “I hate to ask, but could you rototill my garden?  I hate to ask, but will you move the swing off the porch? I hate to ask, but will you please trim my hedge?” Fortunately, between my brother and sisters, our families, and the neighbor, most everything was done.  Inevitably, just as the initial task was completed, he’d say “I hate to ask, but before you sit down, could you do one more thing...”   That too would get done.  Usually with a smile.  Always with  love. That cadence is a fond memory – and it feels familiar as we launch th...
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The People You'll Meet in Heaven

If you were at our It’s a Miracle Dinner last year, you will recall our guest speaker, Mitch Albom.  You may also recall some of the stories from his bestselling books that were part of his remarks.  Stories about Morrie Schwartz, Pastor Henry Covington, and others. He spoke about a book he published in 2003, The Five People You Meet in Heaven.  This book is not about the obvious people you hope to meet in heaven.  It is about the people who impacted your life and they didn’t even know it. That storyline has always been important to me as I think about the people who have impacted my life (and maybe didn’t even know it).  It is particularly relevant in the work of Angels’ Place.  So many people.  So much impact.  It really is a miracle. Our residents are certain to meet people like you in heaven when their time on earth ends. Rebekah Harahan recently share a $500,000 gift with Angels’ Place.  Here is a little of the backstory to Rebekah annou...
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Pull the Weeds When There are Few

 Dear Friends: My late dad would be happy. After a lifetime of caring for his Mother and then our family, he was able to retire. One of his favorite post-retirement hobbies was maintaining a good-size vegetable garden in his yard. Some days, he could be found sitting on a small cement bench near his garden, the morning sun warming his back, a glass of tomato juice in hand, and a statue of the Blessed Mother before him. It was his meditation place. He told me: "Tommy, if you don't pray today, you never will...". When we bought the new Hylane Home, the front garden needed a lot of attention, but it echoed the setting of my father's yard. And when the moms and daughters of Orchard Lake St. Mary's offered the proceeds from their brunch to the residents of Angels' Place, a Marian garden seemed to be a providential investment.  As contractors configured the interior, volunteers weeded, and trimmed, and mulched, and watered. Old shrubs were removed, bricks were stack...
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