At Joy’s House, Mr. Tom has found independence, new friends, and a place to be himself. We hope all of our Guests feel this same sense of belonging and self-worth when they spend their days with us. That’s why this month, we put our focus on celebrating our Guests, past and present, who make Joy’s House such a special place to be. They are the heart of what we do and the reason we celebrate every day.

Mr. Tom is an intelligent man. Not only does he have a Masters degree in Chemistry, he was a college professor for years and loved giving back to his community as an artist and avid volunteer. But when he didn’t show up for the holidays, his sister, Beth, began to worry.

After some searching, she found him, but something had changed. Beth knew immediately that her brother would have to leave his home in Texas and come back to Indiana to live with her. “It was an emotional decision,” she explains. “We were essentially taking him away from everyone and everything he loved.”

But then, through a friend, she found Joy’s House at UIndy and along the way, figured out how to be his caregiver while still being his sister and giving him as much independence as possible.

“Joy’s House helped with this and now, in the mornings when I tell him we are headed to Joy’s House, he answers with an enthusiastic, ‘Oh, good!’ We couldn’t have made a better decision when we chose Joy’s House.”