Family Spotlight: Rimland to the Rescue!
Among those working alongside Rebuilding Together volunteers at last April’s Give Back Day were the parents of one of Rimland’s newest residents. Although they had only brought their daughter to Rimland the previous month, they already felt like part of the Rimland family and were eager to be a part of the volunteer effort. Prior to bringing her to Rimland, caring for their daughter at home had become especially challenging.
And then they found out about Rimland. Rimland prides itself on being able to handle even the most difficult cases. After bringing her to Rimland, the parents described the change in their daughter’s behavior after one month as “a miracle.” Their daughter has adapted wonderfully to life in one of Rimland’s community-based residences. For example, having refused to bathe at home for weeks, she now bathes twice a day at Rimland.
For all of her daughter’s life, this couple had not been able to travel away from home at the same time. No weekend getaways, no “second honeymoons,” no family vacations. Voyages to visit family and friends in their native India could only be taken by the parents separately while the other remained home with their daughter. Now that their daughter was thriving at Rimland, they were gratified to share that, for the first time in over 15 years, they were planning a trip together to attend their eldest child’s graduation from Columbia University in New York.
Despite the success that their daughter has experienced at Rimland, the parents also miss having their daughter at home. “It’s bittersweet,” they admitted, because they had previously lived together as a family for all of her life. But they are comforted to know that she now has a caring, extended family at Rimland as well.