Restoring HISTORY.HEALTH.HEART.HOPE

"When you have the ability to change something for the good, you have the responsibility to. In a world where it is easier to throw away the old, it is more important now than ever to preserve our history for future generations."--unknown

Anyone who knows me knows my love of history and genealogy. I have a healthy appreciation (obsession) for the old ways, and for giving new life to that which has been neglected. I am fascinated not only by where I'm from, but WHO I'm from. I don't see history as old documents, illegible census records, and dates of birth and death. They're not just names on a "tree". They are perfectly aligned stars that resulted in ME. I follow my family story AS a story...a story full of challenging life decisions, joys and tragedies...good times and dark times...energy, spirit, and memories....and a deep sense of *belonging* to something bigger than myself. All of those things are built into my DNA. They matter.

My first inkling for A Mother's Rest came when I learned my Great Great Aunt Virginia Faris Gray's 1898 Virginia farm house was available for sale. At that time, I was desperate for rest. I really wanted to buy it, restore it, and just have it as an escape for myself! But that thought was fleeting, because I knew SO many other moms and caregivers like myself were also in desperate need of a place for recuperative rest and decompression.

It also deepened my desire to seek out living relatives...not just people long since gone and hidden away in old census records and cemeteries...but my PEOPLE, my living kin, folks I didn't know existed. And man, did I find 'em! Cousins, cousins, everywhere!!! And now I'm blessed to befriend them, grow with them, be part of them, in real life. I've got PEEPS! :)

Although I was unable to purchase Aunt Virginia's house, as the Founder of AMR, my appreciation for preserving the past guides my property choices when seeking our new respite inn locations in other states. We're neck-deep in a capital campaign to purchase the historic Isaac Richardson Atlee house in New Windsor, Maryland RIGHT NOW. We have a $100,000 MATCHING GRANT to save the house and give it a whole new purpose for generations to come. Built in 1800 by the founder of the original Sulphur Springs, MD (now known as New Windsor), imagine how many stories, how much energy, how much LIFE has occurred within these walls and on these grounds over the course of 218 years!

Isaac Richardson Atlee House, New Windsor, MD

This home rests on .88 acres of sweeping gardens and mature trees. It has (6) guest bedrooms and (8) bathrooms. It provides office space for AMR, innkeeper's quarters, a massage therapy room, a wine cellar, two common gathering areas on the first floor, and a lovely breakfast area. It also has a cafe and bakery built on to the back, complete with a commercial kitchen for hosting family reunions, weddings, fundraisers, meetings, and supporting our Cornerstone Cafe! Not only will we offer year-round respite and fellowship to parents and caregivers, we're also providing meaningful employment opportunities to our friends with different abilities!

This home has already been lovingly restored by it's previous owners, and WE NEED YOUR HELP to open it as a non-profit, year-round health & respite bed and breakfast exclusively for our caregivers. Contribute through one of our LEGACY GIVING options, or give whatever you're able.

A Mother's Rest is restoring HISTORY.HEALTH.HEART.HOPE Don't wait to leave YOUR personal legacy at the Atlee House through one of our many unique LEGACY GIVING options! We only have until September 30th to raise the full $475,000 needed to purchase the property! No gift is too small.