When Help is Hard to Ask For

A mom recently contacted us in need of support and who had struggled to reach out in the past. She has been the only parent to her son with autism since he was born while also trying to help a sibling with a mental health diagnosis. She’s done it all, with no other support.

This mom was having the damaged floor replaced after a year of being unable to use the living room in their rental. It meant that they were unable to stay home during the time of repair. Thankfully, she could find somebody to have her son overnight, but she needed somewhere for herself to go. This mom reached out to us hoping to have her Respitality stay in September on the date she needed to be away from home. Unfortunately, all of our available rooms were already booked for September. And yet, we have fantastic hotel partners, and we knew that if we shared this mom’s circumstances, there would be a good chance that her needs would be met.

We contacted DoubleTree by Hilton and asked if we could have an extra stay for the month, and they very quickly responded yes. Mom not only had a place to stay while work was being done in her home, but she also had a place to go for some self-care time.

Like so many other families, it’s been a particularly challenging year for this mom and her kids. So we were able to send her a $100 Walmart gift card, provided by a generous donor. It made a huge difference to her family and that “it wasn’t easy to reach out for help,” but we made her feel “comfortable and supported.” She told us how glad she was that she reached out to Respite & Respitality.

By Heather Stevens, The Cridge Respite & Respitality Services