Since October 2010, Jill's House has provided 348,915 hours of respite.
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"Jill's House Is the Best Thing That Has Happened to Our Family."
A special Mother's Day message from Kelli Lozada-Reese.
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Watch how Jill's House lifts up a divorced mom through her courageous steps to recover from breast cancer.
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Thank you for helping me be a better mom. I was diagnosed with breast cancer the day after Thanksgiving. The day after Christmas I had a double mastectomy, and the last few months have been filled with chemotherapy treatments.
As the divorced mother of three children, recovering and caring for my children has been challenging. Luckily, my own mother was alongside me at every treatment, and the Jill's House staff became my second family.
My oldest child, Anna, has Cohen syndrome and attends Jill's House. The phone calls of encouragement and prayers from the Jill's House staff, and ensuring that Anna's time during her weekends there is always special mean the world to me. Knowing she is safe and engaging with friends is such a relief to me during the recovery process. It's one less thing I need to worry about.
Anna is such a blessing. A characteristic of Cohen syndrome is a tendency to be overly friendly. This is such a sweet thing, but it also means Anna is constantly talking, asking questions, wanting to play. While this demanding behavior can be exhausting and requires great patience on my part, it's also a blessing. In my moments of weakness, she comforts me with her songs, rubbing my bald head or repeating something witty and dramatic from a movie or previous conversation. She loves me, her mommy, for who I am, despite my being bald and sick. Her unwavering love reminds me that my daughter is perfect just the way God created her.
I'm so grateful to be Anna's mom. Throughout it all, Anna is always happy and reminds me each day that blessings are all around us. Thank you for being a blessing to Jill's House and to our family.
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"Jill's House has been a blessing beyond belief. My husband is deployed for a year to Afghanistan, and while we love having Jill's House when he's home, the respite it provides me while he is deployed is rejuvenating. It is nice, once a month, to have a weekend with one fewer responsibility, without tube feedings and diaper changes and to have someone else do the bathing and lifting. I love my child, but seeing his face light up when we pull up to Jill's House makes me feel like the weekend is as good for his soul as it is for mine. Thank you!"
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The Jill's House Marriage Seminar helped couples learn to focus on each other. |
Jill's House Marriage Seminar provides tools to keep families together.
Stress, depression and divorce rates are higher among couples raising children with special needs. While regular respite helps drop stress levels by up to 73%, couples need tools and resources to help strengthen their relationships so families can stay together.
On Saturday, May 3, 20 couples and one single mom attended the Jill's House Marriage Seminar at the McLean Bible Church Loudoun campus. "Two of the couples that attended confided in me that before the seminar they were ready to give up on their marriages," shared Jessica Oakley, family relations coordinator for Jill's House. "Praise God for working through the Jill's House Marriage Seminar to help save these marriages."
The seminar was led by Jerry and Holly Leachman, who have been married for 35 years, and are the loving parents of three children and three grandchildren.
"Jerry and Holly were awesome," shared one parent. "They not only inspired us, they provided good, actionable takeaways that we are already incorporating. [The marriage seminar] was a wonderful idea! We are usually so focused on our son we are not paying any attention to what we need as a couple. The other speakers were also good. It's nice to hear from people who have walked in your shoes and truly 'get it.' THANK YOU for finding yet another way to bless us."
While the Leachmans are Christians (Holly is the Teaching Director for the McLean chapter of Community Bible Study and Jerry, a former chaplain for the Washington Redskins, speaks at men's conferences and retreats across the United States), the seminar was open to couples of all backgrounds. The seminar focused on how to maintain a healthy marriage while meeting the challenge of doing so while raising a child with special needs.
The Jill's House Marriage Seminar was made possible by generous donors with a desire to support the families Jill's House serves. If you are interested in knowing more about funding these special opportunities, please contact denise.daffron@jillshouse.org or 703.639.5663.
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The Cotes baked, decorated and sold 110 dozen cookies to raise money for Jill's House. |
Buy a cookie -- save a marriage! A family comes together to show people how much God loves them through their support of Jill's House.
"One day my kids and I were talking about the fact that not everyone knows or believes in Jesus," said Sunny Cote, mother to Georgia, 8, Ella, 6, Hudson, 4 and Annie Grace, 2. "By the look on Georgia's face, it was clear this made her very sad. But after a few minutes, she excitedly said, "Mom! Let's pass out cookies and Bibles to people so they can learn about Jesus!" Well, I wanted to honor her idea but had NO CLUE what to do. So I began to pray. The next Sunday, I saw the video about the McNeil family at church.
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Matt and Sunny Cote made raising funds to help Jill's House serve more children a family affair! |
"After crying about the McNeils' touching story, an idea began to grow. I could not ignore the video, and I wanted to honor my children's passion to help other people. So I talked to my two oldest girls about Jill's House and how many of the families that bring their children there don't know Jesus. I also shared with them that many families break up because the stress of raising a child with special needs is just too great. I asked my girls if they would like to bake cookies and sell them so we could raise enough money to sponsor a child to stay overnight at Jill's House so his or her family would know how much God loves them. I also told them we could ask people to 'buy a cookie and save a marriage.' My children LOVED the idea, and we got right to work.
"Our goal was to raise $1,000 for Jill's House, with every penny we earned going toward this fundraiser. My children and I decided to work toward our goal until Easter when I would write a check for the amount we raised. Together, we shopped for, baked, decorated and sold 110 dozen cookies, more than 1300! Praise God, we raised $1,500 -- well beyond our goal, and enough to sponsor a child for a whole year's stay at Jill's House!"
If you have a creative idea on ways to raise funds to help Jill's House serve more children, contact teresa.lee@jillshouse.org or call 703.639.5670.
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Join H.K. and serve at Jill's House
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Servant faithfully rises early every Sunday morning to support Jill's House: Meet H.K. Carmody.
"H.K. is so awesomely dedicated to Jill's House," said Tranitra Joyner, weekend supervisor at Jill's House. "She volunteers every Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. to help prepare breakfast and snacks for our kids before she goes to church. She has such a warm spirit and genuine love for what we do. She also takes the time to bring and prepare coffee for our staff, and sometimes she brings special treats from her store, Schakolad. When she finishes early from her kitchen work, she goes the extra mile to cook gluten-free pasta to stock our supply. She's a true angel, and we love everything about her."
H.K. is a humble servant with few words. When we asked her what she likes best about serving at Jill's House, she simply said "Everything." When asked why she serves, she replied, "I see God at Jill's House and I am so grateful that He allows me to do His work while I am there. When I first started serving, I could see only the pain the families endure. But now I see how God works through that pain and loves us all -- no matter what."
To learn more about opportunities to serve at Jill's House, visit jillshouse.org/serve, e-mail sara.potter@jillshouse.org or call 703.639.5770.
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Last year Brad ran for Jill's House -- Join our 2014 team and make a difference!
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Marine Corps Marathon and 10K slots now open for Team Jill's House -- Sign up today!
Ready, set, go! A limited number of spaces are now open for the 2014 Marine Corps Marathon Team Jill's House on Sunday, October 26.
For the seventh year, Team Jill's House runners will come together to help raise much needed funds for the children Jill's House serves. Our goal this year is to raise $50,000, but we can't do it without you!
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Kelly wears her Team Jill's House shoes to beat her race with cancer. Watch her amazing story.
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We have spaces reserved for marathoners and 10K participants, so whatever your skill level may be, join us and make a difference for people raising children with intellectual disabilities. You can also support Team Jill's House through your donations and prayers.
The fundraising goal for marathoners is $1,250 and $750 for those who choose to run the 10K. Together, Team Jill's House will have fun, get fit and be inspired.
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Give via domore24.org on June 19 and help us serve 100 families! |
NEWS
You help Jill's House give 100 families 24 hours of respite when you give to "Do More 24" on June 19.
Do More 24 is a local movement that brings together nonprofit organizations, companies and people committed to making a difference for 24 hours of giving. This year the event will be held on June 19. Jill's House hopes to raise $12,500 during this one day event to give 100 families a full 24 hours of respite.
Powered by United Way of the National Capital Area, Do More 24 raises much-needed funding for local nonprofits that create opportunities for underserved populations. The 24-hour event acts as a catalyst for targeted community change. Through focused online giving, Do More 24 provides the opportunity for people to create solutions to our region's most difficult social challenges by determining which issues matter most to them and channeling their funding toward tackling those problems.
Please mark your calendar to give online on June 19 and help us reach our important goal to give 100 families the gift of rest and renewal for 24 hours.
For more information, please contact claire.waldrop@jillshouse.org or 703.639.5699.
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Friday, May 30
Don't miss this black-tie event with Martina McBride and the McLean Bible Church Orchestra at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner.
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Saturday, June 7
A 100-mile motorcycle ride through Northern Virginia raises funds to serve more families. Includes breakfast, lunch and a day of fun and inspiration.
| Links for Little One Golf Tournament
Monday, October 13
This year's premier golf event will be held at TCP Potomac Avenel Farm. Be inspired and have a great day of fun while helping families stay together.
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Jill's House | 703-639-5660
PO Box 9104
McLean, VA 22102
CFC #22742 - United Way #8244
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