Testimonials
Mae House has been a lifesaver for our 34-year-old daughter, Carrie, who became a resident September 2021. It has also been a lifesaver for me and her sister, Courtney. Her mother had passed away in July 2021, so Carrie was basically all alone.
Carrie knew Hannah by attending Blind Children’s Center in Tustin and AYSO VIP Soccer many years ago. She also knew Gina from Soccer at the same time. At the beginning, Carrie was very reluctant to move into Mae House. With the help of Annie and the other staff members, Carrie was able to “baby step” in. It was very traumatic at first for Carrie to transition, but Annie was very patient in taking her calls and working with Carrie to overcome her anxiety. Annie became very close with Carrie with the daily Facetime calls. Now, after a month, Carrie is transitioning and realizes she can overcome her anxiety.
As a parent, you wonder about the future of your special needs child. The tendency is to protect the child and have them live at home in a safe environment. Mae House has provided that environment for Carrie, so Courtney and I don’t have to worry about Carrie. This, in turn, has allowed Carrie to grow and gain independence that, otherwise, would not have happened if Carrie was still living at home.
I have heard testimonials from people who have noticed that Carrie has become much more outgoing. We love to hear her laugh as she is enjoying her stay. The four girls are all supportive of each other. As of October 2021, I believe Carrie has made the transition and looks to Mae House as her new home.
I am very grateful for the support provided by Mae House to help Carrie through what could have been a very difficult and emotional transition. Taking the extra time and effort to help in the transition has allowed Carrie to grow and know she can overcome her anxieties. Robin, her deceased Mother, would be very happy to see this transition. I also know she is receiving much better nutritional care with a healthy diet.
The Mae House model of a small, close environment has allowed Carrie to blossom.
Hopefully, this model and environment can be replicated in other Mae Houses.
Cory Youngberg
Tanette is thriving at Mae House. She is learning how to be more independent so she can experience life as an adult. Tanette’s housemates and staff celebrate her uniqueness and special talents. Tanette is able to participate in experiences she would not have access to if she lived with one of her siblings. Tanette is beginning to think of her housemates as sisters and considers Mae House her home. For me, Mae House has allowed me to transition from caretaker back to Tanette’s sister.
Alicia
We have been extremely fortunate for our daughter and our family to be involved with Mae House. Our adult and very special daughter, Gina, has resided at Mae House for the past year. As a full time resident every aspect of her life is cared for at Mae House.
We were fortunate the founders and the director of Mae House invited our daughter to become a resident, after their many years of preparation, hard work, and attention to detail which was required in such an extraordinarily unselfish act. Mae House is a perfect environment for our daughter wherein she can have a wonderful blend of independence and appropriate daily oversight and care. Logistically Mae House is both a house and a home, where the residents can sense the warmth of a loving environment, interacting with other female residents, yet still have the ability to have supervised independence.
Mae House is in a safe and quiet residential environment with neighbors who enjoy the residents. The wonderful ladies providing 24 hour assistance for the residents are kind and enthusiastic. They were hand-picked for their caring. Our daughter feels they are among her closest friends and interacts with them, along with other special residents in the most endearing way. The daily activities, outside of the residents’ work and day programs, are a delight to Gina and always planned with creativity and significant effort. As a result we have observed our daughter growing in self-confidence and social interaction skills.
As parents, we realized Mae House was the right place for our daughter when, only a few weeks after she moved in, she referred to
Mae House as her 'home'.
Respectfully and with great appreciation,
Diana and Larry Lorenzi
We always imagined a special place for Hannah to be given the chance to have independence and yet, still be surrounded by a loving “family.” We never dreamed that it could be this wonderful. Hannah Mae Slater is so happy.
Mae House is Hannah’s college experience. When her sister and brother went away to school, Hannah always wanted to go. Not really sure what college was, I think she just liked the idea of not always living with Mom and Dad. Hannah is experiencing new things, new people, and is excited and looking forward to each new day. Like her siblings, Hannah’s roommates (housemates) have become part of Hannah’s extended family, as have the Mae House Assistants.
We feel very blessed that Mae House is a happy, loving, safe place for Hannah to live amongst friends.
We are very grateful to all those people that have helped us along the way from Dan guiding us through the legal aspects, Jill and Chuck for being our first and constant donors, Annie for joining our team as Administrator, Mary our in-house Chef and nutritionist, our Board of Directors Ted, Jon, and John, and the many donors that have supported us through this journey. Without your continued support, Mae House would not exist.
Love,