KD Sunday Spotlight: Hope Grows provides a caring place for the caregivers

CORAOPOLIS (KDKA) - Welcome to the Iris Respite House in Coraopolis. 

The word respite means rest and this space is more than just a beautiful home for some "R & R."

It's the first minute of time in a long time for caregivers to make room for themselves.

Lisa Story literally opened the doors to her home for this, in January 2023. 

"It's a first and only in this country," said Story. 

She's also the founder of the nonprofit Hope Grows, which has a mission of caring for our caregivers and is the organization behind the Iris Respite House.

"This nonprofit is speaking for the community," Story said. "It is reaching out into the community to say, 'Hey we need to be helping these people get the break and the rest that they need.""

A caregiver is typically a family or friend who's often unpaid to take care of their loved one.

"Caregiving is something nine out of ten people do," Story said. 

It's so common and the National Institute of Health even found some caregivers get so stressed, they die before those they're tending to.

"I hear so many caregivers say oh my gosh if I could just find an afternoon to just go get my haircut," said Story.  

From paying bills to assisting like a nurse, turning into a caregiver comes with its own sense of loss.  

"Loss of their spouse's ability to tie their shoes or loss of ability to just even carry on that conversation," she said. "That happens a lot with the dementias and Alzheimer's."

Intense medical needs happen to the elderly and children. For Bethany Jaworowski, it takes the form of her six-year-old twin boys who both have MECP-2 duplication syndrome.  

"They have a really rare neuro-developmental disorder," said Jaworowski, so they require 24-7 care.

"It's a lot of work but it's also there's physical therapy, occupational, all the different exercises, and when there's not a nurse then I'm not able," She said. "They're not able to go to school, so I'm providing all that care for them."

It's a labor of love, with no breaks.

 "I'm not able to get a babysitter when there are g-tubes, when there are seizures, when there's medical needs," said Jaworowski.

Even insurance won't cover a medical provider, to watch her kids, unless she's in labor, admitted to the hospital, or has a psychiatric crisis.

"Literally they burn out and then you end up with a caregiver in the hospital and then who's taking care of that child?" Jaworowski asked.

That's why Hope Grows provides space for a break for those who give their all. "Iris respite house" offers people bedrooms for overnight rest; breakfast in the morning; a therapeutic heated pool; and mostly time to relax and restore.

"The thing that I'm really excited about with the respite house is that it would give me time to be able to sleep," said Jaworowski.

"One guest that came here she was just like oh my gosh. She says this was the breath that I needed. She said the minute I walked through this door, I just felt peace," Story said. 

Staying at the Iris Respite House costs $149 per night, but it's a small expense to keep caregivers going.

AARP reports millions of unpaid family caregivers across the U.S. provide care valued at $ 600 billion dollars, in 2021. Without them around, you can imagine the cost of our health care system.

Now most all the other services at Hope Grows are free. Those include support group check-ins and connecting you to resources, such as mental health providers, and days in the garden to connect with nature.

The non-profit serves seventeen counties, in seventeen states and they have 115 volunteers per year. If you want to volunteer or donate to the non-profit, click here!

If you would like to see an organization highlighted in KDKA's Sunday Spotlight segment, send Megan Shinn an email at mshinn@kdka.com!