Elderly Care and Senior Living Support Services
Background
JC - born June 12, 1999 - 1 of 3 Boys
(get his backstory)
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All along, we’ve wanted to share our son, JC’s gift with others and
here’s how it happened:
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Observing JC and the community of special needs youth that he is a part of has painfully awakened us to
how lonely they can be.
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Their friends can often just be assigned teachers, temporary paid social workers, 'fast food' cashiers when they spend money or peers that understandably
move on with their lives in college or with their typical friends.
SeniorBuddies
SeniorBuddies
Like anyone else, these kids just want to be accepted or liked;
they want friends; they want purpose
and inclusion in our community.
These special needs kids are smart and
they are very aware of this reality,
but they move on with their lives like most of us do.
Most of them have dreams or goals that remain stagnant;
they live a difficult reality of constant "failure".
They constantly adjust their own narrative to match that reality while still trying to avoid hopelessness.
I cannot even pretend to imagine the frustration; however, they are blessed with a gift
that we only wish we could partially tap into.
The spontaneous joy that comes from being in the moment and truly content with the present
is something we all need to learn; the natural radar they can have for
goodness, joy and compassion is astounding!
They have a level of empathy that is difficult to match and a positive outlook that should be contagious!
JC came with me to New Orleans to “help” move my elderly aunt to the Chicago area.
That experience allowed me to witness his special gift;
empathy, in bottomless quantities.
Observing that gift in action was not new for me, but seeing it with the elderly was
truly eye opening!
More importantly, recognizing how lonely and vulnerable the elderly seniors are, is what made the “light bulb” go on for me.
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That’s when my experience with seniors
turned into SeniorBuddies.org!
A perfect match!
The above is understandable and I guess; it makes sense.
I must say, however, that there is another critical component to the magic that gave birth to this idea.
Watching the three brothers interact over all these years has been a real joy, but William’s role was the clincher!
In addition to being his younger brother....
William has been...
JC’s "mentor" and buddy since day one!
You see,
JC is lonely and always needs
a friend and a “mentor”;
he doesn’t like to call it a babysitter; he’s 20+
The constant rescue from loneliness or lack of friends; the endlessly repeating pattern of giving JC
purpose and companionship;
the never-ending effort to include JC and
make sure he felt part of “the group”;
that's what William did....for years!
William has a heart the size of North America!
All three brothers do; in fact,
that is what inspired the 3 hearts in our logo...
3 Boys – 3 Big Hearts!
The leadership that William (JC's brother) showed from
the day he realized his brother was special/different turned out to be destiny.
William and his friends have been the "mentors" for years!
Not only did William complete our family, but
he was the inspiration that provided the 3rd critical component needed to
complete the SeniorBuddies.org project;
where the final and critical component (Mentors)
created a companionship trio;
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Our Buddy Program - Seniors, Buddies and Mentors - The 3 Hearts!
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Destiny! A Perfect Match!
Peter
J C
William
3 Big Hearts
