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Do you have the openness, patience and love to live in community with people who struggle with disabilities? Do you desire to live your faith within this Catholic community in service and care of God’s most precious ones? Visitation Home is a Catholic community (open to all faiths) where people with disabilities and those without live together in mutual support and prayer. We offer room and board in a beautiful home, salary, benefits and spiritual life. Please write to Denise Reil, P.O. Box 11242, Hamilton, NJ 08620 or e-mail at denise817@optonline.net.
"My name is Caitlin and I am freshman Nursing student at the College of New Jersey. At the beginning of the semester I was first introduced to the Bonner Community Scholar program. This past Saturday, November 8th, I accompanied my roommate Alyssa Brent to a CEL (Community Engaged Learning) day at the Visitation Home. I found this experience to be extremely rewarding. I was profoundly touched at how such a small gesture, such as spending my Saturday with such positive people, could make a difference."
"My very first memories of Visitation Home exactly embody the name of this wonderful community. The door opened and I was nervously introduced to to two of the residents, Michael Swistak and Tommy, who were hugging each other and telling me how much they loved being roommates. I was warmly received by everyone at Visitation Home (VH for short) and we all sat down to a family- style luncheon together. How does this relate to the actual name, Visitation Home?
Well, I believe first and foremost that VH truly is a home. All of the VH-ers (as we affectionately call the residents) are indeed a family brought together by God's providence to become a family and live together as a beacon of hope and love to those around them. They share the joys and struggles of living in community with one another, just as any family does. The "Visitation" part comes in when we look at the Visitation of Mary to St. Elizabeth in the Bible. Mary came as a perfect model of charity and service; her first thought was to help her neighbor rather than to look after her own needs, even though both women were pregnant at the time. The day -to-day life at Visitation Home is founded upon Mary's selfless service to others rather than putting oneself first. You must come to serve, to learn, and to be humbled by the faith and purity that the residents, these Little Ones of God, radiate to everyone around them. You must not desire to do great things, as the world tells us we should, or to reach for things beyond your control, but you must desire to be simple and happy. Most of all, you must desire to just be. Be present to the needs of the residents, to their likes and dislikes, and most importantly, to their uncompromising dignity as human persons.
I learned alot during my time at Visitation Home about patience, both with myself and those around me, and also about the true joy in life that comes from God, and not from the false allurements of the world. The residents are perfectly happy to find joy in the little things of life, such as a picnic, a new baseball cap, or even just a favorite song. When did we stop believing that the source to happiness is found all around us, if we are only patient enough to look for it? The summer I spent at VH was a time for me to reconnect with the little things in everyday life that God gives us to be a source of happiness and joy: a particularly beautiful sunset or even a simple smile of one of the residents. Many people have called Visitation Home a miracle, and I believe it after hearing about the infinite waiting lists to get into New Jersey state homes where the workers really don't care about the residents. Visitation Home is the manifestation of God's love to His Little Ones through Denise's initial "yes" and to the many fiats that have followed hers (including all of my co-workers) to dedicate their lives to serving the poorest of the poor.
It is truly difficult to put into words what exactly Visitation Home is like; it is one of those things you must experience to understand. What I can say, however, is that it is a place of immense love where the Gospel is being lived out on a daily basis, through fidelity to the little things in life. I found a family when I went there. I know that God has many plans for VH in the future and I feel privileged to have experienced the beginnings of such a great labor of love."
"In my life I had the good luck to meet so many good people, and one of those experiences I want to share with you."
"When I was 17 years old, my main dream was to find the way to visit another country, travel, see different cultures, and at the same time help somebody. That same year I met Denise Reil, a lady from the USA who later made this dream come true."
"A year later, in 2006, I was packing my suitcases and I was ready for my adventure. I was ready to live with another family, to see USA for the first time and to volunteer at the house for people with disabilities. Denise has a wonderful family, husband and three children. The youngest one, Scott, is 18 and he is autistic. When he was only 3 years old they found out that he is autistic and they had to learn how to live with it. Denise had one worry, she was afraid of what was going to happen with Scott once she will no longer be able to take care of him. Years of thinking and planning went by and she finally came up with a plan. Her plan was to open a house for people with disabilities. She wanted to create community where people with disabilities and people who take care for them would live as a family. A place where they can feel loved and accepted."
"Volunteering at their "Visitation Home" has helped me to grow. I always see people with disabilities on the street but this was the first time that I was actually living and working with 7 of them. I was cooking with them, playing games, doing chores, singing, exercising. When I witnessed the love with which Denise and her family take care of Scott I hoped to someday have the same strength as they do."
"After the two months that I spent there, I realized that those special individuals had done so much more for me than I did for them. First, I learned how to be patient. At the beginning it was not easy to wait for someone when he was being very slow or to repeat the simplest thing many times without getting through. They don't need a lot to be happy. With just one smile they bring joy to others because they are so lovable. It is a wonderful feeling when you know you have helped somebody even if it seems insignificant. I believe that to make a difference in the world we need to start by doing small things with great love. This is the most important thing I have learned from this experience."
"Now, every time when I think of them, these lyrics of a song come to mind:
Maybe the last ones are the lucky ones
the ones who got this whole thing figured out
cause when they go looking for something beautiful
they start looking from the inside out."