A Brother’s Story: As shared by Ken Hartman

Growing up, my brother John was always the center of attention in our family.  John lived with our parents his entire life, and they worked hard for him to be part of the community. 

He had a good life, until tragedy struck. In a few short years, our parents passed away and we had the pandemic lockdown. For the first time in his life, John was alone.

Our parents always feared John would be put in an institution. My siblings and I managed caregivers coming in and out of the family home. It didn’t go well. It was a lot of stress and instability for all of us, but especially for John. He’s a social person, but he was shutting down.

When we found Jubilee, we were struck by how welcoming everyone was at the homes we visited. We were impressed with how present the staff was, and how the people who lived in each home interacted with each other. We saw firsthand that this is not an institution. This is a home. This could be John’s home.

Now he’s settled in with his housemates Anthony and Stephen, and his support team from Jubilee. We see that he’s acclimated to his new home, his posters are on the wall, and he has people who care about him.

All the guys give us fist bumps and hugs when we visit. The three of them are like one family. We’re thrilled. It is his home truly. Our family likes to joke that we didn’t lose John when he joined Jubilee, we gained Anthony and Stephen.