Love Notes

As the world wakes up from its COVID fog, we realize that our homes have an abundance of deferred maintenance needs. Roofs, decks, gutters, driveways — and the list goes on. In the last six months we’ve improved our process of identifying issues and prioritizing repairs. We have a long way to go, but we are making progress. Many hands (and specifically-designated contributions) make this possible. Recently, Barbara Urbiel asked Tom Lehrer if he could find a couple volunteers to do some yard maintenance at our Mary Ann Van Elslander Home in Clinton Township. Tom is the nephew of our co-founder Annemarie Lopez and the Public Information Officer for Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel. Tom quickly found two volunteers — himself and Mr. Hackel. They did a great job on the shrubs and weeds and we are grateful. The end of the story is even more beautiful. When the work was done, the four residents — Mark, Marc, John and Frankie — thanked the two “maintenance” guys. Our resident Mark, who is ...

I wish I had the faith of James. A few months ago, we received a call from a prospective donor.  The family was planning to remodel their kitchen and wondered if we wanted their existing, perfectly-good kitchen cabinets and a few appliances. My first impression was – that is a nice gesture (especially since I had recently visited the Holy Family Home and saw their cabinets were in disrepair).  But how will we get the cabinets out of one house and then neatly installed in another?  To this weekend handyman, that sounded like a herculean task. But, the caller who is associated with Faith Works said that their volunteer group might be able to take care of the physical labor – and their team was capable of doing a fine job. My next thought was: what are the chances that those cabinets can be reconfigured into another home?  Slim. A day later, tape measure in hand, I went to the Holy Family Home in West Bloomfield and took some measurements. As always, the four residents ...

This past week, one topic at the Angels’ Place board meeting was the future of our enrichment center/office space.  Our lease will expire next May with a built-in roll-over for another three years.  After that, the landlord has informed us that he needs the space for his own business, so another renewal will not be offered. The conversation causes us to fast-forward to 2026.  What will Angels’ Place look like then?  We have to plan the steps to define the scope, find the property, design / retrofit the space, move everything to a new home, and pay for it. For some organizations, circumstances mandate a singular focus on today (and maybe tomorrow).  Thanks to your ongoing support, we can look forward with confidence and imagine what the future might be. Please call or drop me a note if you have any “must-have” suggestions. On behalf of the men and women of Angels’ Place, thank you for making today and tomorrow possible.

On the pages of our newsletters, you see images of the impact of your generosity.  And we are so grateful for the joy you bring to our residents’ lives. I too draw energy from the smiles of the men and women of Angles’ Place – When Sue and Mary Beth tap their fingers on my office glass wall and wave hello. When Mark comes into my office and sits down like he owns the place. When Paul calls out from across the room. When Lenny wants to bump elbows. When Therese asks if she can ask me a question. When Katie says she likes my sweater or when Charlotte says she likes my shoes (she likes everyone’s shoes). When Matt and I tease each other about Michigan vs. Michigan State. The list of joys goes on-and-on.  I wish you could experience these with me.  What you are less likely to see is the reality of life that is played out in every family: Recently seven staff (including myself) and eleven residents had COVID.  Just when we thought it was safe, we had the biggest surge in ...

There is so much we can all learn about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  I learn something new every day. Here’s one story: Over the last few months, I’ve needed to visit one Angels’ Place home multiple times. On my first visit, John didn’t want to engage with me. A few visits later, he simply said hi. Later, he showed me some of the things he had been doing on his iPad And a visit later, John offered to make me a cup of coffee, shared his private stash of International Delight coffee creamer, and we had a nice talk about Tom Brady, and how much he loves his Angels’ Place housemates.   In that one setting, here are three things I learned: 1. Like all of us, our residents want to have relationships.  Sometimes it takes a while to establish trust, but our residents are capable of great relationships. 2. If they can, our residents want to do things themselves.  Before you do for them, let them accomplish things themselves.  If they...