Mary’s Children Family Center is a non-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization which had its inception in a room that wasn’t being used at St. Bede Church in May, 1993. It was begun by two Oakland County mothers who searched endlessly, to no avail, for a program for their own brain injured children.
Our pilot program called for meeting three hours one night a week. A donation of $5.00 was collected for food and supplies. No one was turned away if they couldn’t pay. In these cases, we absorbed the cost. We truly believed in our purpose and still do.
Mary’s Children opened a permanent Family Center at 495 E. 14 Mile Rd. in Clawson in 1999 servicing all Oakland County residents. The program is a pre-vocational and socialization program where adults (18 and over) who have brain injuries from either birth or acquired come for six hours a day to participate in a structured program. Because we believe our participants are in a continuous process of learning, we call them our “Students”. Our Students live with family or independently with 24-hour care and supervision and are beyond the stage of recovery where intense rehabilitation is available. The Center provides a milieu setting where participants are involved in supervised, self-directed, structured activities. The program is designed to improve functional independence and enhance quality of life for persons overcoming brain injuries and now living in the community. The program offers academic, physical, occupational and recreational activities enhanced by fellowship, lunch and prayer. In addition, our Students develop and enhance socialization and independent living skills competencies acquired through a variety of leisure and exercise activities. Students and staff engage in fun, interesting and meaningful activities together daily. Friendship, confidences and self-sufficiency develop as a result of participation which improves the ability to function in the community. Therapeutic social interaction with peers is facilitated. The Center stimulates participation, provides motivation and nourishes self-confidence. The Program also provides a much-needed respite for family member who normally provide their 24 care at home. This allows them to work, make appointments, take care of shopping, etc.
Our Nurses, Certified Nurse’s Aides and caregiver’s ratio to Students is 2 to 1: an unheard-of ratio anywhere else in the community. Therefore, most of our costs are related to payroll for our nurses and assistants because they are the Program providing “hands on” with the Students for their care and participation. We are very proud of our quality staffing and continue to hire more qualified people and provide them with individualized intense training.
We are encouraged by the volunteers we have from the community and are always looking for more. From local seniors to grade school students they are people with talents to share. They come to read, help with lunch preparation, or assist with feeding since many of our students cannot feed themselves. These are a wonderful group of volunteers and we appreciate each and every one of them.
In 1999, when we started the Center, we renovated one half of an old unused building. Then in 2010, after a decade of fund raising, we completed major renovations to the other half of the building. The building was in disrepair and falling down; it was torn down and rebuilt. This was an asset to the community aesthetically and allowed for us to open enrollment to more individuals in need of this program.
One of our most amazing miracles is the story of our student Doreen, a quadriplegic since being hit by a drunk driver at the age of 15. Doreen was in a coma for 11 months and unable to interact with those around her for 5 years. When during finally emerged, she had only about 5mm of movement capability in a single finger of her right hand. She has used this limited ability to write a number of poems that reflect her experience of going from a bright, vibrant 15-year-old teenager to a non-verbal quadriplegic. You can find her wonderful book of poems on Amazon, it is called Poems From The Inside by Doreen Joseph. All royalties from this book support Mary’s Children.
Our future is bright with the hope of expanding our Program and serving others someday soon. Cognitive learning, exercises, various types of therapy, computer classes, arts and crafts, we believe play a vital role in our Students’ teaching and growth processes. This combined with the expert care given to them has been considered in our various planning stages. As a whole, we strive to set a standard of care for those less fortunate than ourselves.