Taking Charge of Her Life, Althea Excels By Joanne Malise, State Director, Living Innovations, a service of Mosaic, in Rhode Island* Althea was about to be 18—an age most teens look forward to with excitement. But the birthday would be something very different for Althea. The school and child welfare system could do nothing more for her, and she was too young to enter the adult system. Age 18 would be a life-changer for her. It was the age at which the child welfare “Subsidized Adoption” funding to her foster parents would end. It was also the age she could legally leave the home she had grown to hate, even though her younger sister would be left behind. Then the call came from the state adult services asking Living Innovations to help. It was an extremely cold November in 2010, and the State was asking if we could find a new home for Althea. Arrangements were made to meet with the state police one evening across the road from the home of the foster parents. They were very familiar with the home and were in full support of Althea leaving, except that Althea was not living in the home. She was living in a dilapidated trailer behind the home that lacked both running water and heat. The foster father stated it was Althea’s choice to live there, but we will never know whose choice it really was or all the reasons why she resided there. The police knocked on the trailer door, and it was opened by a small blond-haired, blue-eyed young woman. After confirming her identification, I asked, “Would you like to come with me to a home that is safe and warm and where you will be taken care of?” There was very little hesitation before she began throwing her few possessions into the offered trash bags. Thus began Althea’s journey into Shared Living. Fourteen years later, and at least six different Shared Living homes, Althea has matured into a woman who now can verbally express her thoughts and needs. It is very hard to break habits of a lifetime that were grown out of hunger, frustration and deprivation. She has learned to control most of her anger and how to trust others. After not seeing her sister for more than seven years, they were able to be reunited when her sister moved into another Shared Living arrangement upon her 18th birthday. Althea is an avid reader, having “consumed” the Harry Potter series numerous times! She loves reading mythology and doing crafts. Althea has tried several jobs and loves volunteering with the elderly. She is generous and loves gift buying and making crafts for others. She has made a network of friends with whom she stays in touch, and this includes her boyfriend of 10 years. Most importantly, she has learned to trust and talk through her issues. She is a woman redefined. *Living Innovations has locations across Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire; the nonprofit provides support to people of all ages and abilities to have a good life at home and in the community. From Summer Workers to Charitable Gift Donors The Carlson Sisters’ Lifelong Support of Mosaic By Sherry Bale The deaconess was not impressed when her summer workers arrived at Bethphage’s Axtell, Nebraska, campus in 1941. “I thought they were going to send us workers, not kids,” Sister Emma Hanson said. So the story begins in Mosaic’s The Reason We Exist: Stories of Mosaic’s Call to Serve (bit.ly/4bORtYX) about Velma Carlson, then only 15, and her sister Selma, then 16, arriving at Bethphage to the sound of Sister Emma’s utterance. Bethphage was a ministry dedicated to loving and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the Carlson sisters were there to support the staff’s good works during the summer. Sister Emma determined they were more than capable, so she asked the sisters to return the next summer and to bring their younger sister Thelma. Among the three of them, Velma said they worked at Bethphage during most of the 1940s. Today, Velma and her sister Thelma fondly look back at the experience. “We were blessed to have that opportunity. It was God leading and guiding us to help relieve the need,” Velma said. “That experience has been a mainstay in our lives and an important part of our spiritual, physical and mental growth.” In 2003, decades after Velma, Selma and Thelma were summer workers, Bethphage united with Martin Luther Home to become Mosaic. Because she knew firsthand howMosaic’s founding ministry brought to life Bethphage’s original mission of “We are called to love and serve our neighbor” through the people it supported, Velma has given the organization a generous charitable gift annuity, and Thelma also contributes to Mosaic and has a separate charitable gift annuity. “I’m so happy Bethphage’s work has continued with Mosaic,” she said. “I stopped giving to some charities, not knowing howmy donations were being handled. I know how they go directly to the people Mosaic is helping. “I don’t think any of Bethphage’s founders and staff at that time thought their ministry and their mission would result in the things Mosaic is doing now in the U.S. and internationally,” Velma added. “It’s all so wonderful!” Althea is thriving since she moved into a Shared Living Arrangement and directs her own life choices. Watch her story here : bit.ly/3UPr6LL. Now is the best time to consider a Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) with Mosaic Your donation makes a visible, positive impact on the lives of the people we serve, and CGA lifelong payout rates are the highest they’ve been in 16 years. No matter how the stock market performs, Mosaic will pay you a steady, fixed income during your lifetime. To learn more about the advantages and benefits of a Mosaic CGA, visit plannedgiving.mosaicinfo.org/charitable-gift-annuities or contact Jaime Corsar at 1.877.366.7242, ext. 31106 or by email at [email protected]. The three Carlson sisters who worked at Bethphage (back row from left), Velma, Selma and Thelma, along with siblings (front row) Nathalie and John. 6 | Promise
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