I first heard about Jill’s House through a support group for moms with kids with special needs. During one of our times together a friend said, “You need to start the paperwork to get your son signed up for Jill’s House!” We owe that friend so much. Our son Cordis started going to Jill’s House about 10 years ago, when he was 7 years old.

When Cordis was little, my husband Brian’s parents would take Cordis for the weekend so Ryan and I could get away. Eventually, Cordis reached an activity level that was too high for them, and they were no longer able to care for him for extended periods of time. As he got older and they weren’t able to care for him anymore, they switched to taking our twins (who are nearly 12 years old now), so we only had to focus on one kid for a weekend.

My mom has been battling cancer over the past several years, so my parents have been more of an emotional support outlet rather than physical support. Not to mention, none of us have really been together indoors for over a year as the pandemic has raged on—until Cordis’ Jill’s House stay at the end of March! Cordis is now vaccinated, we have been vaccinated, and the grandparents have been vaccinated. So finally, while Cordis had overnight care from Jill’s House, our twins went to stay with their grandparents, and Ryan and I finally got to get away and spend time together.

When Cordis has stayed at Jill’s House, my husband and I have had some wonderful opportunities to travel, to maintain our relationships with our extended family, and to get reconnected with one another. The list of things we’ve gotten to do because of the help of Jill’s House is joyful: we’ve gone to New York with my in-laws, participated in my sister’s wedding, taken my two younger kids (who otherwise would never get the chance to travel) to Hawaii, attended the Jill’s House Gala, and taken short trips (just Ryan and I) to the Dominican Republic and once to Aruba!

Jill’s House has given us time to focus on our marriage, which takes a village. These opportunities to be refreshed, renewed, reconnected, and caught up on quality sleep would never be possible if we didn’t have a place that we know Cordis loves, and that we know loves him for him. It has been an absolute blessing. Sometimes we take just one night that he is at Jill’s House and go to a hotel, so that we aren’t looking around the house thinking about all the things we need to get done. Jill’s House gives us time to authentically relax.

The thing that Cordis gets the most excited about, and talks about all the time, are who his buddies are going to be when he comes to stay at Jill’s House. As soon as he knows he has a Jill’s House weekend coming up, he wants to know who his buddy is going to be! He adores everyone at Jill’s House, probably because the staff are fully devoted to him, to his wants, and to his needs while he is there. He feels so special at Jill’s House, and he loves that the most.

He loves all of the activities too — singing songs in the chapel, reading stories in the library, and watching movies! He always talks about what he watched while he was there. He gets a kick out of the staff saying over the radios: “Somebody’s here for Cordis! Copy, copy!” He’ll come home saying “Copy, copy!”

He bursts with joy at the Christmas parties Jill’s House throws—it’s like his world has just been made.

The Family Retreats are a favorite for all of us—one of the most beautiful weekends we’ve ever had, because all the kids were taken care of, each kid had their own buddy, and they were finally able to be kids! All the kids had the most wonderful time.

Jill’s House is valuable because you can’t just hire someone to provide this kind of care—it’s an experience issue, it’s an understanding issue, it’s a care issue, it’s a love issue. All those things are present at Jill’s House, and you can’t buy that.

Jill’s House makes us more available to do well by all our kids, including Cordis, who, despite his challenges, is the most pure, joyful, sweet and loving child you could ever hope to meet. Jill’s House allows us to get out from under the daily grind and reflect on the true blessings we have in life. And that may be the biggest blessing of all that we receive from Jill’s House. THANK YOU for bringing this blessing into our lives through all you do to make Jill’s House what it is.