A High-Five and a Hug Are the Norm for Rich
I think you’ll enjoy this story about someone we support. It is one of those stories that just makes me smile. I can’t help it, because when you meet Rich Hoffman, who is served through Mosaic at Home® Shared Living, he will greet you with a smile and high five like you’re an old friend. His story is a great example of Mosaic’s personalized services and the positive impact they have.
Rich has lived with his brother, Jeff, and sister-in-law, Teresa, for just over a year now. Jeff is Rich’s Mosaic at Home Provider. Prior to moving in with them, Rich lived in a Mosaic group home for 23 years. His mother, Deb Hoffman, said Mosaic came to be an important part of Rich’s life, calling Mosaic “his people.”
“They’re kind of like his family outside of the family. He has always loved it.”
Belonging is one of Mosaic’s values, and I’m so happy to see it come alive in people’s lives. Our goal is that everyone we support feels that Mosaic is a place they feel at home and comfortable, because they belong.
As a newborn, Rich would choke easily during feedings, Deb recalled. She learned to put only a little from the bottle in his mouth, then sit him up and pat his back to get it down. She also had to show him how to chew food, she said, so they went in search of answers.
Deb remembers sitting among a group of doctors when they said Rich has cerebral palsy. He was one at the time of his diagnosis. In response, her only question was, “Will he die young?”
“Once they said ‘no,’ that’s all I cared,” she said.
Jeff is three years older than Rich. He also has a sister, Sarah, who is five years younger. Growing up, Deb said, they were all treated the same. Rich grew up in a supportive—and fun-loving—family. Although he isn’t very verbal, those who know him understand what he’s communicating.
“He has had a great sense of humor from the time he was little,” Deb said. “Rich brings so much joy to us. He brings joy to everybody.”
Jen Geidner, who was the group home manager where Rich lived and is now his Mosaic at Home coordinator, agreed.
“Instantly, he will put a smile on your face,” she said.
It was Rich who pushed to move into the group home, his mother said. He had started day services with Mosaic when he was 21. He made friends there and really enjoyed the activities.
“In all of our meetings with Mosaic, he kept saying he wanted to move out of our home,” Deb said. “We took him with us everywhere. He knew all of our friends, but we were old, and our friends were old. He would see his friends at Mosaic having parties and going to each other’s houses. He really wanted to move into a Mosaic home.”
Deb saw a change in Rich after he moved into the group home.
“I saw him become more independent when he moved out. When he would come to our house, he would make up his mind and that’s the way it was. We couldn’t sway him.”
Rich was always happy to come home for visits—but only once every other week. Even then, Deb said, he’d hang out two houses down at Jeff and Teresa’s home. When Deb and Dave started going south for the winter, those weekend visits were at Jeff’s home because the two had always been close.
“We’ve been pretty tight growing up,” Jeff said. “He’s always been a special person in my heart.”
Having Rich as a brother made Jeff more aware, he said. As an athlete, he knew his brother—a huge sports fan—would love to have been able to take the field.
“It always made me not take for granted the things that I had been able to do and the experiences I had,” he said. “I’d like to think I was a supportive big brother.”
In high school, he made sure Rich and others with disabilities could hang out with everyone else in the Forum, the gathering place at the school. Jeff said he’d defended Rich when it was necessary.
“I was very much the brother who would stand up for him,” Jeff said.
So when the family learned the group home where Rich lived was closing and it was suggested he transition to Mosaic at Home, there was no question about where he should go. Teresa didn’t hesitate.
“Her exact words were ‘Why doesn’t he come live with us?” Jeff said. “There wasn’t any hesitation on our side that it was the right move for him.”
“We have a big home and our kids left, so there was no reason not to take him in,” Teresa said. “He’s always been part of the family, so absolutely he should be with us.”
Teresa said Rich is very affectionate, and every morning is so excited to tell her that he slept there. The smiles and hugs flow freely, she said.
When asked who his favorite is, Rich laughed and pointed to Teresa without hesitation. But within a few moments, he had also leaned his head into Jeff’s shoulder, showing the affection the two have for each other.
Having Rich live with them rather than stay for a weekend did change a few things. Jeff said they have more responsibilities, such as the daily documentation they need to do as home providers. They also had to get training and a number of certifications to meet the terms of the contract with Mosaic.
“I’m a nurse anesthetist, so I knew I could do his medications,” Teresa said. “I help him shower and dress, which is easy for me since I was already a nurse.”
Like Jeff, Teresa too said Rich has been a good presence in her life.
“I can get impatient,” she said. “He gives me a lot of perspective. I get stressed cleaning. He forces me to slow down. He helps me probably a lot more than I help him.”
Rich keeps busy. He still participates in day services, which are community based. With his friends, they visit the local library, ride horses, take day trips to visit museums and other attractions, volunteer, and more.
At home, Rich likes to golf with his brother and dad. He spends time on the water (the family lives on a lake). He’s always got an UNO deck in his pocket (though Teresa says he cheats at times, which Rich firmly denies). Together they enjoy watching sports, and Jeff said Rich will often be up in his room watching sports on his own.
Rich is a big Nebraska Husker fan, and his room is painted Husker red with a white rally stripe. He’s such a fan that, a few years ago when the local paper had a contest for the biggest Husker fan, Rich won.
“He does not ever go anywhere when he doesn’t have Husker clothing on,” Jen at Mosaic said. “From the pants to the shirt to the hat—everything. It’s his everyday attire.”
Deb said the biggest change she’s noticed in Rich since he moved in with Jeff and Teresa is that she hasn’t seen his “stubborn side.” Jeff has always been able to calm Rich down when he is agitated.
“A lot of people think it’s so great of us to have Rich living here,” he said. “We think it’s not that big of a deal. It’s awesome that he is here.”
Our goal is for every person we serve at Mosaic to have the kind of life Rich does, a place where he feels he belongs, surrounded by people who care about him, living in a place he chooses.