Keith Edwards counts down the days until he can come to Jill’s House again. When he arrives for a weekend getaway, he can swim in the pool, jump on the moon bounce, scale the climbing wall, do arts and crafts, watch movies, play outdoors or participate in any number of other activities. While there, Keith, 21, who has Down syndrome, is able to have fun with other kids, teens and young adults with intellectual disabilities. Trained staff and volunteers make sure he’s safe and cared for during his whole stay.
“He just loves everything about coming here — this is his favorite place to be,” said his mom, Cathy Edwards, a parishioner of St. Timothy Church in Chantilly. But a stay at Jill’s House in Vienna is more than fun. “What he loves is the same thing I love and it’s that he feels the love of Jesus here,” she said. “It’s the only place Keith and I and his dad feel that he is safe and loved like he’s never been loved anywhere else.”
The Christian nonprofit Jill’s House opened in 2010 with a mission — to provide respite to parents of children with profound intellectual disabilities while creating an amazing vacation experience for the children. Lon Solomon, former pastor of McLean Bible Church, and his wife Brenda, spearheaded the initiative after members of their congregation pitched in to help care for their daughter Jill, who suffers from a seizure disorder. Getting a break from full-time caregiving was transformative for the whole family.
“We are convinced that God loves these families more abundantly than we ever could, and it is our joy, duty, privilege and responsibility to reflect his love to these families in word and deed,” said Joel Dillon, president and CEO. “We try to give the kids a mini–Disney World experience while they’re with us and meanwhile (parents) get a break. They get to sleep through the night, they get to go on a date, they get to give undivided attention to their other kids. For the families we serve, these are really rare and precious gifts.”
As far as Dillon knows, there’s no other facility like Jill’s House in the country. The organization provides weekend stays, one-night weekday stays and camps throughout the year on a regular basis depending on need and availability. Trained staff, including a nurse, provide care and send detailed reports back to the parents. Kids can join whatever activities they want to during their stay, from story time to jamming in the music room. Jill’s House also hosts marriage retreats, family retreats, retreats for single moms, Bible studies and other types of gatherings for the families.
“One concept that is so important to us here at Jill’s House is going above and beyond,” said Dillon. “The families we serve, their typical experience is fighting tooth and nail for the bare minimum of services, whether it’s at church, at the grocery store, at the doctor’s office (or) at school. We want to be the one place that wows them in the other direction. We’re going to roll out the red carpet for them because we feel like that’s what God has called us to do.”
Many families pay for their child’s stay using Medicaid, while others are charged using a private pay scale based on self-reported family income. Thanks to the donors who support Jill’s House, “we charge pennies on the dollar for what it actually costs,” said Dillon. “So a whole weekend, 48 hours here, might cost most families about $150.”
Jill’s House not only gave Cathy and her husband, Earl, a regular chance for respite, it also brought them closer to God. Earl really resonated with Lon Solomon, said Cathy. “(My husband) said to me, ‘I really fully believe in Jesus now for the first time. I’ve always believed in God, but this is the first time I’ve really accepted (him) in my heart,’ ” she said. Cathy, a music turned special education teacher, now works as an assistant director of religious education at St. Timothy. She and others at the parish are working to implement religious education for children with special needs, known as SPRED. “It’s God’s perfect timing and perfect plan that I feel so humbled to be a part of,” said Cathy.
Ann and Brian Robertson, Catholic parents living in Maryland, still remember the first time their daughter Bonnie, 16, who has Down syndrome, autism and is non-verbal, stayed at Jill’s House. Before that, they didn’t trust anyone to care for Bonnie except themselves and Ann’s mother. “I was pretty suspicious at the beginning whether or not this was actually going to work,” said Ann. “I almost felt guilty for doing it but then I realized (that) first weekend I still heard (Bonnie) screaming in the house even though I knew she wasn’t there. You don’t even realize what level of stress you’re going through until it’s not there.”
Brian hopes Catholics will come together to create more respite opportunities. “(Jill’s House) has a beautiful facility, they have qualified and trained people that you can trust and that’s what parents need,” he said.
After years of staying at Jill’s House, Bonnie doesn’t even look back at her parents as she heads inside. “You can tell she enjoys being with people who engage her and have a lot of affection for her,” said Brian. “Bonnie can tell the difference between someone who’s doing it for pay and someone who’s doing it out of love.”
“When Bonnie arrives, the volunteers always say to me, ‘Thank you for allowing us to spend this time with Bonnie,’ ” said Ann. “They see the benefit of their own lives of spending time with someone who lives in a state of joy most of the time. She’s happy, innocent, pure love.”
