His twin brother, Bryce, was born with hydrocephalus and developed seizures. Doctors told Denise that he would never walk, talk, or see. His hydrocephalus had to be relieved with a shunt, and his seizures have been successfully treated with medication. According to Denise, once he started talking “he never stopped,” and he is very social. He wears thick glasses and is legally blind, but is able to see enough to lead a fairly active life, shooting baskets, and golfing with his parents at Westfield, where he has a membership and is a favorite of some of the older golfers.

Denise’s life was a cycle of caring for the twins at home, addressing their medical issues with myriad doctor appointments and therapies, as well as being an advocate for the boys. She was divorced in the twins’ first year and was fortunate to have her mother living nearby. Her job as the Senior Accounting Officer for the City of Goodview allowed her to make up hours on nights and weekends. Childcare was a perennial and vexing nightmare because so few child care providers were able to successfully care for the twins and their many challenges. Denise says she always thought she was so busy with the twins that she didn’t take time to enjoy them, a common thought among mothers of kids with all levels of abilities, but magnified in her situation. However, she describes the boys as being very affectionate and loving.

Help came when the boys were about three years old, when Brady was diagnosed with autism. Because of the boys’ many medical issues, Winona County Human Services assessed their needs on a quarterly basis. It was through the county that Denise became aware of the services offered through HCO. At first, HCO provided staff who could go to Denise’s house and watch the twins so Denise could do laundry or work one on one with a twin. Shortly thereafter, Brady began to receive respite care at HCO’s house on Broadway.

It was there that Denise and Brady met Sarah Haines, who worked on autism issues with Brady and fed Denise’s appetite to know everything she could find out about autism and the other problems her twins were facing. Denise also did research herself, needing to “know what it means” to have autism and what to do about it. She mentions, gratefully, the help she received in that regard from Mary Jansen and Denny Theede at HCO and from ARC Minnesota.

At about the same time, the twins entered preschool at Lincoln Elementary, and Bryce was able to go to Key Kids after school.

Denise remarried when the boys were four, and her husband, Dave, was willing to share responsibility for their care.

Brady spent three years in preschool and Bryce two years. They then went on to kindergarten and elementary school at Madison Elementary, where they were mainstreamed in music, art, and physical education. They continued on at the Middle School and then Winona Senior High, where they graduated. Denise expresses her appreciation for the Winona community and their acceptance of Brady and Bryce. “They were never picked on,” she says, and credits HCO for educating the entire community on the issue of disabilities.

At one point, Denise and her mother looked into a facility for Brady who was experiencing many behavioral problems. They toured a place in Red Wing, and both felt overwhelmed with the thought of the boys in such a place, and they never returned.

When Denise was no longer able to lift him out of his wheelchair, Brady, at age 17, moved to a residential home in La Crescent, where he stayed for three years. Denise hated having him so far away, so when there was an opening, he moved to an HCO home where he is really thriving.

Bryce also moved to an HCO home earlier this year.  Since the two homes get together frequently for dinner and activities, the boys see each other often. They like their independence, their housemates, and their activities. “It’s a joy to be with them,” says Denise, and they live only a matter of blocks away from their parents.

Brady, in addition to swimming, participates in adaptive bowling. He loves music, Keith Urban being a favorite. Denise says that is a great improvement over his affection as a child for Barney! (She even took the boys to a Barney concert!) He also likes to draw and watch movies. Denise says she is continually amazed that Brady is now so laid back, when “it took me three years to teach him how to use a fork, and he would be so frustrated with foods he didn’t like that he would throw his food.”

Bryce also swims, bowls, goes to movies, and has been involved in the HCO musical.  He has also been invited to sing the National Anthem at all sorts of events:  WSU Homecoming, Rollingstone Days, Special Olympics, and the WSU Holiday Basketball Tournament. He likes to help out with Brady, hang out with housemates, and is noticing girls.

Denise is an avid advocate for HCO and has had the opportunity to talk to legislators about the work that HCO does in supporting the disabled in the community. Her affection for HCO is many-fold, but she cites the fact that they are located in the community, near to families, are so well-managed, and are able to help families keep their loved ones close, while giving them the structure and services they need to lead healthy, happy lives.

It takes many hearts and hands to give Brady and Bryce a good life, and Denise credits HCO, as well as her mother and husband (her “sounding boards”) with giving the twins, and her, the help they need.

Brittany would love to go to college to study either math or history, but isn’t sure what she would like to do with either of those majors. She’s also interested in research, archeology, and accounting. She’d like to be a mechanic, too, or since she loves animals, perhaps a job working with them. She has so many interests it’s hard to choose.

She and her best friend, Chelsea, have been friends since middle school and have a great time together. Both Brittany and Chelsea are involved in Grassroots, and they have a blast taking a bus to the capitol to rally with HCO and meet legislators. Brittany also has plans to go bowling with friends very soon.

She has worked at ORC for seven years in the laundry area. She irons sheets and loads the machines, doing laundry for Saint Anne’s, Winona Health, Callista Court, WSU, Sauer Heath, Sport-n-Spine, and the Winona County Jail. She is very good at her job, but feels like she could use more of a challenge. The best part of the job at ORC is working with her friends. If she’s having a bad day at work, she says that two of her good friends always save the day: they can’t help but make her smile and forget her problems. She admits that her impatience can sometimes hold her back, but she works hard to keep her composure and be professional. She tries to set daily goals for herself at work. If she doesn’t make them, she lets it go and tries to do better the next day.

Brittany has a lot of interests that keep her occupied on her break at work and in her off time. She especially enjoys music and her tastes range from country, such as Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, and Kenny Rogers, to Whitney Houston, Prince, Michael Jackson, and Carrie Underwood. She always has her ear buds and phone with her, so music is always available. Some of her television favorites are Judge Judy, Jerry Springer, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Dead Files, Ghostly Adventures, and Family Matters. She also likes to read.

Right now, Brittany says, she has to focus on trying to better herself and plan for her future. People can’t help but believe that she will accomplish a lot in her life, she is so full of energy and drive.

As Julie neared her teen years, however, caring for her at home became nearly impossible. Rosella had been diagnosed with diabetes. There was no funding available from government agencies, and she needed 24-hour care. Both Jim and Rosella were working full-time to be able to afford her care, which at the time was a daily babysitter. In addition to her full-time job, Rosella also did typing at night for the courts.

Caring for Julie continued to become more difficult, so her parents enrolled her in a residential program in Faribault. They visited her every weekend, but it was still a financial and emotional struggle for the family. From there, she was transferred to a residential program in Rochester. In the 1980s, they were told of a residential program opening in Winona, and they were thrilled at the possibility of Julie being able to come home. The first group home that Julie stayed in had nearly a dozen residents, as Greg remembers, and the family was very happy when HCO changed the program to have fewer people in each home.

Julie was a long-term resident of the 1031 program, and Greg feels that she was happy there, as well as safe and cared for very well.

Though Julie was non-verbal, she did use sign language. When one of her brothers would come to visit her, she was excited about it all day. She liked to dress up in anticipation of their visits. She was what Greg calls a “typical girl”.

Until a few years ago, Julie worked and took the bus to and from her job. She liked riding in a vehicle so much that she didn’t want to exit the bus at the end of the day.

As her health started to decline, hospice began visiting on a regular basis to monitor her condition. Her brothers no longer got to take her out when they came to visit or to McDonalds (her favorite food was hamburgers). Taking her places often required some planning. When she got tired, Greg said, she would just sit down wherever she was. “It could be the middle of Broadway!” he laughed.

One of Greg’s favorite memories is about a birthday party for one of Julie’s housemates. Julie found where the birthday cake was stashed before the big party and got into it. “She liked to eat,” says Greg. She made such a mess of the cake, another one had to be purchased in a hurry for the birthday party.

Another time, someone from a government agency called and asked to speak with Julie. The person was advised that Julie was non-verbal, but they asked to speak to her nonetheless. Julie was called to the phone, looked at it disinterestedly, and dropped it on the floor. So much for phone calls from the government!

Julie defied doctor’s expectations. She lived a long life with the support of her parents, brothers, and HCO family. Julie Ann Theis died on November 7, 2018, at her home. She has left Greg, as well as many others, with many lasting memories that they will continue to cherish for a lifetime.

She currently works at Steak Shop Catering, where she fills and covers cups of cut fruit, pudding, and Jell-O for Meals on Wheels. She also cuts bread and sometimes makes cookies, but admits that is NOT her favorite task. She is planning to ask for more hours so she will be able to move into her own place.

Katrina has been going camping a few times a year for the past 3 years at Prairie Island Campground. Her only experience with camping prior to this was staying in a pop-up camper owned by some friends of her family. That was like a “real house on wheels,” she says. Prairie Island is a little more rustic, and this past summer Katrina discovered she wasn’t as much of a fan of “roughing it.” There were a lot of spiders that they had to clear out of the camper before they moved in. “There were a lot of mosquitos too,” she says. She did like making pancakes and s’mores and walking along the river, though.

Katrina enjoyed traveling to St. Paul this past year with the HCO Grassroots group to meet with legislators. She took the day off of work and spent her time there carrying a sign encouraging the legislators to support providers like HCO, which need help funding critical services and attracting good staff members.

Katrina is a regular at Saehler Drive, which she likes a lot. She loves celebrations and is the party planner at the house. They make food and punch, and they have a great time. She likes the Compass dances, and she was part of a costume contest on Halloween where she took third place. “I got beat out by a monkey and a witch!” she says. She went as a Skeleton Bride. 

Katrina’s energies continue to be spent on preparing to live independently. She is working on saving more money and needs to try for her driver’s license. She dreams of living on her own, being able to invite friends over, relaxing, and enjoying her kitty.

At that time, Rosanne recalls that expectations for Joanne’s future were not rosy. In many families, Joanne would have been institutionalized. Florence was adamant, however, that she would be kept at home and cared for by the family. When Joanne was about 14 years old, the public schools began offering programs for people with moderate disabilities. Joanne attended school until she was 18 before graduating to the Developmental Achievement Center.

Florence and Joanne

Rosanne’s professional career began shortly after high school when she became secretary to the Academic Dean at the College of Saint Teresa, and it was there that she met Sister Yvonne Elskamp. Sister Yvonne was on the faculty of the Education Department, which was training women to teach special education. In addition to teaching, Sister Yvonne was also the first executive director of Group Homes of Winona. The organization had one group home established at the time; they were in the process of choosing residents for a second and were meeting with the neighbors to ease the transition of new residents to the neighborhood. After becoming familiar with Rosanne’s family, Sister Yvonne encouraged Rosanne to use her experience and talents on the organization’s Board of Directors. Rosanne and Florence had been very involved with the Winona County Association for Retarded Citizens, which at the time had a chapter in Winona, and it seemed natural to Rosanne that she should become involved with Group Homes, even though Joanne was not involved in the program at the time.

During the 1980s, Group Homes continued to grow and add services. Individual homes housed fewer people, giving them a more family-like feel.  In 1987, the name was changed to Home and Community Options to better reflect its expanding mission. Since then, Joanne has been served by HCO’s various programs over the years while still living with Florence and Rosanne.  Over the years, Florence has commented that she never thought Joanne would have the opportunities that HCO has given her to make her life so meaningful.

After the death of her mother, Joanne continues to live with Rosanne who is her legal guardian.  The home consists of Joanne, Rosanne and their two dogs–Ava (a 4 year old Scottish Terrier) and Lovey (a 15 year old Poodle who came to live with them when Rosanne’s brother, Charlie, passed away two years ago).  Joanne loves the dogs and helps taking care of them.  She also helps Rosanne with a lot of household chores. “Joanne is very good at putting things away,” says Rosanne. “Charlie used to come over to fix things. He’d lay a hammer down, and when he turned around to pick it up again, Joanne would have already put it away.”

Jan, Florence, Joanne, and Uncle Charlie (left to right)

These days, Joanne attends the Benedictine Adult Day Center, which she loves. She attends Monday through Friday, and she enjoys the van rides to and from the Day Center so much that she is usually the last one dropped off each day so she can ride around town. On Wednesday afternoons, Joanne also works one-on-one with an HCO counselor at home. At the Benedictine Day Center, she enjoys trips to the casino and lunch at area restaurants. “She has a better social life than I do!” says Rosanne.

Rosanne has been an ambassador for HCO for many years, even recruiting other longtime board members like the late Stewart Shaw, whom she worked with at Winona State University. “It’s a working board!” she says. She held every office possible on the board except for treasurer. Though Rosanne has since retired from the board, she still serves on the Human Rights Committee, which meets quarterly and is a member of the HCO Production Committee. She also volunteers her time working on mailings for the organization and assisting with ticket reservations for the annual musical.  “Before the musical,” she recalls, “we tried selling chocolates at the mall as a fund raiser. We didn’t do very well with that attempt.” Now, of course, the musical is a tremendous success.

Rosanne has seen many changes over the years, not only in the way the organization raises funds, but also in the way they’ve provided services. “People in Winona County don’t know how lucky we are to have an agency like HCO,” says Rosanne. She says when she tells people from other areas about Home and Community Options, they are amazed at the scope of the agency. She has great admiration for HCO employees and is always impressed with the organization’s phenomenal growth. “The staff is tremendous, very caring, and you can tell they love their work.”

40 years later, there is no need to ask Rosanne why she continues to volunteer at HCO. “What HCO has done for my family,” she says, “there is no way I can ever possibly repay them.”

Paul’s family raised more than just horses. They had sheep, pigs, and lambs – which at times needed to be bottle fed. Paul had to get the sheep ready to be shorn, which involved removing all the dirt and “stickers” from the wool. His hands were so soft from all of the lanolin in the wool that by the time he was done, he thought they felt like dish rags. Once the sheep were shorn, the little lambs often couldn’t identify their mothers right away and would wander around crying “baaa, baaa!”

Paul and his grandparents also raised geese, which he was not fond of at all. “The old gander would go after me and go after the back of my ankles with his wings,” Paul said. “And geese have a big wingspan!” When they bought chicks to raise on the farm, it was Paul’s job to make sure the heater on the chicks’ cage didn’t go out during the cold nights.

Paul also had a dog, a German Shepherd named Teddy, which he got when the dog was six weeks old. Teddy was pretty much a one-man dog, and once when Paul’s grandparents went to town, Teddy broke his chain and went after the milkman, who had to jump on top of his truck. It took some doing to corral Teddy and save the milkman!

After his grandparents and mother passed away, Paul met an amazing man named Joe Morse. Joe assisted Paul in receiving services from Home and Community Options, and he now lives in one of HCO’s residential programs.

The farm’s garden was a place Paul really enjoyed. Even now, he is the gardener at his HCO home on Garvin Heights, although the size of the garden is not as big. Paul likes to do yard work, water, weed, and plant flowers. Frustrated by the hungry deer that eat his flowers, he now plants marigolds which the deer don’t seem to like as much. Paul lives with four other men, including his friend Steve, who grew up on an adjacent farm and who Paul has known since they were both very young. Paul gets up at 5 a.m. each morning and cooks breakfast for the house, which includes eggs and raw fries. “They eat them all up!” he says.

During the week, he goes to the Benedictine Day Center, where he socializes, plays bingo, and now and then goes gambling at the casino near Red Wing. At Benedictine, Paul says he has a “big friend in Tom Severson,” a volunteer who he plays games and talks with there. He also takes trips to the Eagle Center, Owl Center, and apple orchards in the fall. Sometimes he takes a Thursday or Friday off from Benedictine to relax, work in his garden, or maybe go out to dinner. According to Paul, it’s a great life in his HCO home.

Enjoying a nap with his furry friend, Dobbie

Terrianna (left), enjoying the outdoors with friends Britt and Bridget.

She feels lucky to get the summer months off, and she spends that time helping her staff, Lori, around the house while her roommates are at work. She and her roommates are responsible for caring for their home and each has chores. Terrianna enjoys vacuuming and likes that they all take turns cooking. On Sundays, she attends Central Lutheran Church. Afterwards, when she and her three roommates go grocery shopping at HyVee for their weekly groceries, Terrianna is in charge of the shopping list.

Terrianna enjoys both her time with her roommates and her solitude. In her free time, she enjoys going for walks by herself and likes to watch Law and Order with her roommate (and best friend), Lynn. She also enjoys lolling around with Timmy, the black house cat with a white patch on his tummy. She is an avid Vikings fan, her favorite food is BBQ beef sandwich (which she had at her high school graduation party), and her favorite color is pink! She will soon be attending the Self-Advocates Minnesota (SAM) Conference in the Twin Cities, and is excited that she will be staying in a hotel.

She has several artistic pursuits, and her favorite right now is diamond painting: a combination of paint-by-number and mosaics, which she does with one of her roommates. When she has completed a piece, Terrianna frames it and hangs it on the wall at home. She has also taken painting and jewelry-making classes at the Friendship Center, and recently she went with a group of people to Ashley for the Arts. Her artistic endeavors also include performing in the HCO annual musical. She particularly likes to dance, but also enjoys singing in the chorus. In HCO’s 2018 production, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, she was a flamingo and a fish in the big number “Under the Sea.”

Terrianna likes to travel and would like to take a cruise to Hawaii or the Bahamas, but she knows that would cost a lot of money! She spends every Christmas in Sioux Falls with her family and also enjoys seeing them at their cabin close to Winona in West Newton. She fondly remembers another family trip to Florida, where she sat on the beach and often had to be reminded to get out of the sun from time to time. “It felt so good,” she says. She prefers beach weather rather than snowy weather.

Terrianna is also a member of the Home and Community Options Board of Directors.

HCO has a long-standing history of incorporating the voices of those they serve on their board and committees, guiding the culture and services of the agency to be person-centered, inclusive, and committed to providing the highest quality care to those HCO supports.