Our Mission                     

To nurture the ability and willingness in our community

to welcome and support people as valued

and contributing citizens.

         "Story of the Month "        

       Susan visits a Share Your Home family on weekends. When they go out, she has no problem getting in and out of their vehicle except at one place; when they go grocery shopping.  Instead of stepping out of the car her usual way, when they would get to the grocery store Susan would open the car door, turn sideways in the seat, swing her legs out the door with her feet outside the car but then wouldn’t move. They would encourage her, but would have to wait for her to decide she felt she could get out. It wasn’t about Susan needing help, as she can get out of their car any other time, so the Share Your home family was very confused as to why Susan would only do this at this one place. It was a very consistent thing but they just accepted that is who Susan is.

       This Share Your Home family mentioned this to another friend who suggested maybe there is something about the grocery shopping routine that’s different for Susan from any other time they go out. They thought about this and realized when they go grocery shopping, it’s the one time Susan doesn’t take her purse. The next time they went to get groceries they suggested she bring her purse along and sure enough, she had no problem getting out of their car. When they thought about it more, Susan has a routine of taking her purse whenever they go out but because it was their grocery shopping, they didn’t think Susan needed her purse. For Susan, having her purse with her is part of her routine, so then she was able to complete her usual steps getting out of the car.

       They felt quite proud to have taken the time to really think about who Susan is, to have figured this out and that she was not being ‘difficult’ or stubborn. It was about something missing that she normally does and it was confusing for her.

Sometimes something that can seem really insignificant to us is very important to people we support. The other wonderful part of this story is that the more people know us deeply, the better we are understood, the safer our relationships are.

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