Host Homes Provide a Win-Win Opportunity
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Having a family to love and a place to call home is important for everyone, Diana Tinnell believes. So with her husband, she has shared her Omaha-area home -- and her life -- with three men with intellectual disabilities as a host home provider for 14 years.
In several states, Mosaic provides host home services. The host, like Diana Tinnell, receives support and guidance from Mosaic to provide services to people with disabilities in the family-like or roommate-style setting of the host's home. There are many benefits for the person supported and for the provider.
The three men living with the Tinnells range in age from 35 to 54. Before coming to the Tinnell home, all three had been living semi-independently in apartments with roommates but were experiencing health and behavior problems. Bruce Tinnell (he legally changed his name because he wanted to be part of the family) was angry and often refused to go to work. Jerome Behrens was overweight, did not keep himself clean and groomed, and shied away from people. David Ybarra was also overweight and taking medications that totaled 15 pills a day.
Because they now have people who "love and care for them," Diana Tinnell said, the men have seen great improvements in their overall health and behaviors. Bruce Tinnell, the first to move into the
Tinnell home 14 years ago, has become a model employee at his job and never misses a day of work. Behrens, with the Tinnells for 13 years now, has lost more than 50 pounds and loves to talk and
be around other people. Ybarra, in the Tinnell home for three years, has lost more than 85 pounds and takes one aspirin a day and no other medications.
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Key to making a host home arrangement successful is the right match of provider and person, according to Theresa Burns-Fair, Executive Director of Mosaic in Grand Junction, Colo. Mosaic has provided host home services there since 1991.
"Some people want a family, others want a roommate, yet others see the host home as a stepping stone for future pursuits," Burns-Fair said. "Success is due to the provider's dedication to the individual in promoting a life based on the individual's choice and blending the interests of both people."
Success is clearly seen in San Angelo, Texas, where Mosaic matched Katie Alexander with host Yadira "YaYa" Manzanarez.
"Talk about a match made in heaven," said Liz Jones, Executive Director of Mosaic in San Angelo. "Since moving to YaYa's home, Katie just beams with joy every time I see her. She has been able to live life to the fullest … To be part of a family means so much to Katie."
Alexander had been living in a state institution and first moved into a Mosaic group home. Encouraging her toward greater independence, however, Mosaic matched Alexander with Manzanarez in a host home. The relationship has been great for both. The two do many things together, including hair appointments and manicures, and clothing and accessory shopping. They have even traveled together to Mexico and Las Vegas, and Alexander is learning some of Manzanarez's native Spanish language (she is originally from Nicaragua).
"I love (Katie) with all my heart," Manzanarez said. "I don't see (her) as a client, but rather as a part of my family and God willing, I will continue giving my care."
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In Phoenix, host home provider Ejay Bustamente said the relationship is two-way.
"It is very rewarding to me," he said. "I feel that they give me a lot. I am not just here for them, they're here for me."
Bustamente shares his home with two men who have disabilities. Five days a week, Kenneth Curriston, 24, and Anthony Antone, 27, leave home for a workshop at 7 a.m. and return home around 4 p.m. The rest of the time, Bustamente said, he is somewhat of an "extended parent," providing care and guidance, and spending time together.
Host providers are not Mosaic employees but are independent contractors with Mosaic. Providers receive ongoing training from Mosaic to help build the skills needed for success. In addition, they have respite care available for emergencies or time off. Bustamente has a respite provider stay with the men every Wednesday evening to have time away and has respite care when he takes an annual vacation.
Others, like Tinnell, include the men in their family fishing and camping trips and all their other activities.
"Being in a home with a family and living the family life is what we do," she said. "It is a big, happy family."
Diana Tinnell's son was 9 years old when she first became a host home provider. Today, he and his wife are host home providers with Mosaic, as is Diana Tinnell's mother.
"If you want a job that keeps giving rewards and more rewards, this is the one to do," Diana Tinnell said.
Because of its many benefits to people with disabilities, Mosaic is working to spread the host home model to all areas where Mosaic operates. To learn more, contact your local Mosaic location or send an inquiry.
