St.Marys Home for Disabled Children

Special Section: Combined Federal Campaign 2009

Aly Enjoys Prom, Girl Scouts at St. Mary’s Home

By Sonja Barisic
Marketing Communications Manager for St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children

Senior Master Sgt. John Borden Jr. was at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea when his daughter, who lives at St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children in Norfolk, went to the prom for the first time. But he still got to see the broad smile on Aly’s face as her date held her hands and helped her move about in her wheelchair while a DJ played dance music in St. Mary’s Atrium.

Aly, wearing a corsage her grandmother ordered to match her pink gown, was featured in a video of the prom created by The Virginian-Pilot and posted on the newspaper’s Web site. “It was really nice to see her interact with people in that setting,” Borden said about watching the video on his computer, thousands of miles away from Virginia. “She loved it, smiling and giggling while she was dancing.”

The dance is something special for St. Mary’s residents to remember – and it’s just one of the many activities in which Aly participates in at SMHDC. For example, Aly is a member of St. Mary’s Girl Scout troop, which has explored Norfolk, visited Washington, D.C., created a butterfly garden at the Home, delivered donations to the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and, naturally, sold Girl Scout cookies. “The kids get to do the normal things that kids do,” said Nicole Hoskins Jones, St. Mary’s director of recreational therapy services.

Borden said Aly really enjoys the activities and that she receives good care at St. Mary’s Home. “She is getting so much attention that a single parent in the military could never accomplish,” said Borden, the infrastructure superintendent in civil engineering at Kunsan.

SMHDC serves families through the U.S. Armed Forces’ Exceptional Family Member Program. Aly came to live at the Home when her father, who had been stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, was sent to South Korea. The family looked into several options and chose SMHDC “when we found out St. Mary’s was just for kids,” Borden said.

The Home is the only pediatric long-term-care residential facility of its size and scope in Virginia for children and young adults with severe disabilities. SMHDC has been caring for Virginia’s most vulnerable children for 65 years, opening in 1944 as an infant home. Today, the staff provides around-the-clock medical, therapeutic and recreational services for as many as 92 residents, ages newborn to 21 years.

“Aly’s very happy here,” said her grandmother, Evangeline Beaudoin. “I would recommend this place to anyone that has a child in this situation. The quality of life here is great.”

Borden said he would like to thank all of the local companies and people who donate time and money “to help St. Mary’s stay as nice as it is.”

To support St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children, designate CFC #10064.