A few weeks ago, during a visit to Storm Lake, Iowa I toured Faith, Hope & Charity , a residential care facility for children with disabilities. This impressive facility serves 32 children, ages 3 – 18, in four homelike wings.
Fascinating History
But what fascinated me most was the home’s history, recounted on a wall display in the main entrance. It was a testimony of how two ordinary families found a way to help their own special needs children, and in the process created a nurturing home for hundreds of special needs children in the decades to follow. You can read a short history at the facility’s website’s history link. But the history doesn’t do justice to the efforts of the two amazing women instrumental in the founding of the home.
Meet Rose
Later the same day I was able to meet Rose, one of those remarkable women. She’s an elderly, active widow. In the early 1960s her sixth child, Brenda was born without eyes and with severe developmental delays. “The other kids were accepting and played with Brenda, but she required so much time, I couldn’t keep up. She never slept. I never slept. It was too much with six kids under the age of ten. My husband and I needed help. Finally, we found an older woman who came in during the day and sometimes sat with Brenda in the evening, too.” But eventually, even that wasn’t enough help.
What to Do?
Then two things happened. First, Rose’s husband submitted what he thought was a ridiculously low bid on a house in town being auctioned off. To his surprise, his bid was accepted! Next, Rose visited with Mary, the mother Becky, a girl with profound care needs. The two moms, with the support of their husbands, came up with an unexpected way to provide care for their daughters. They would start a home for their daughters in the newly purchased house, pictured above.
In the next post in this series, you’ll learn how their solution mushroomed into a facility far beyond anything Rose and Mary imagined.
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