#weGIVECATHOLIC is a one-day Giving Event hosted by the Catholic Community Foundation that takes place on Giving Tuesday each year. It is a day dedicated to giving thanks and giving back.
Donors can give online early starting on Saturday, November 22 to have their gift matched, or you can mail your check early to Joseph & Mary’s Home.
“We are in the right place. With the right program. With the right purpose. At the right time.”
Keynote Bobby Watts delivered those words to the more than 300 attendees at the annual Perseverance in Hope 2025 Benefit Luncheon on Thursday, October 30. This year’s luncheon raised more than $102,000 for Joseph & Mary’s Home, including $18,187 that will go directly toward the Sr. Joan Gallagher, CSA, Endowment Fund.
Bobby, who is the CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, expressed that Joseph & Mary’s Home is a national leader in medical respite care.
“Joseph & Mary’s Home is one of just two medical respites that I am aware of in the United States that is accredited as a rehabilitation facility. This means that there is a focus on acute medical conditions, while also going the extra mile to work toward long-term rehabilitation,” he said.
Bobby also explained how in Cleveland, medical respite is a part of the homeless response system, or the continuum of care. He said this is not common in other cities, where those who enter medical respite lose their spot in line to secure permanent housing. In Cleveland, that doesn’t happen. “Cleveland is a special place,” he said. “You have a robust service network, donor community and business network, but are a small enough city where you can collaborate and connect easily.”
Bobby further highlighted how he is impressed with the Joseph & Mary’s Home alumni program that lends support to former residents, whether they need a place to do their laundry or need a ride to a medical appointment.
“Joseph & Mary’s Home helps residents reach their full potential, and make sure people can be whole again. Look at the resident stories shared today. This place has helped restore their health, hope and future. Medical respite is morally right and fiscally responsible, and reasonable,” he said.
With The City Club CEO Dan Moulthrop as emcee, Perseverance in Hope also honored two award winners.
Tom Tyrrell received the David Henderson Memorial Award. Tyrrell chaired the most recent “A New Home for Healing” Capital Campaign to relocate and renovate Joseph’s Home. The campaign – which publicly launched in June 2024 – raised over $3 million. This surpassed the original $2.5 million goal. Thanks to Tyrrell’s efforts, the money raised will go toward Joseph’s Home capital improvements, as well as operational costs and the endowment. Click here to watch a video about David Henderson Memorial Award Recipient Tom Tyrrell.
The City of Cleveland’s “A Home for Every Neighbor” initiative was this year’s Dream Team Partnership in Service Award recipient. Cleveland Department of Public Health Housing & Outreach Project Manager Liam Haggerty accepted the award. The initiative began in February 2024. The city’s original goal was to have 150 unsheltered residents placed in safe, stable housing within 18 months of the initiative’s launch. As of the end of October, they have successfully housed nearly 200 residents, exceeding their goal in a shorter amount of time than anticipated. Click here to watch a video about the Dream Team Partnership in Service Award Recipient “A Home for Every Neighbor” initiative in the City of Cleveland.
Pictures from the event can be viewed on the Joseph & Mary’s Home Facebook Page.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Gold Level: Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland & East Central Ohio, Inc.
Silver Level: Michael L. and Maria L. Spangler; Baker Hostetler; Liberty Development Company; and Mansour Gavin LPA
To watch a video featuring the healing and renewal that happens at Joseph & Mary’s Home, click here.
The 2025 David Henderson Memorial Award Winner is Thomas N. Tyrrell. To watch a video congratulating Tom on being this year’s honoree, go to https://youtu.be/SuoG5JKSpGc
Tom Tyrrell was first introduced to Joseph & Mary’s Home by former Sister of Charity Health System president and CEO Tom Strauss. After attending a few Perseverance in Hope luncheons, as well as touring Mary’s Home just after it opened in 2022, Tom and his wife Diane became benefactors. They recognized the culture of happiness and caring at Joseph & Mary’s Home and wanted to ensure the high quality of care provided continued.
Tom quickly became more involved at Joseph & Mary’s Home. This resulted in him being the chair for the most recent “A New Home for Healing” capital campaign. Under Tom’s direction, “A New Home for Healing” surpassed its goal and raised over $3 million. These contributions made the Joseph’s Home relocation and renovation possible.
Additionally, money raised also went toward operating expenses and the Sr. Joan Gallagher, CSA, Endowment Fund. With a life-long focus on addressing the social determinants of health and caring for the whole person, Tom not only chaired the campaign, but also donated in support of it.
After serving as CEO for multiple steel companies and helping found several local companies, Tom pivoted to the nonprofit world. He co-founded Great Lakes Biomimicry Institute, a nonprofit that works with businesses and educators to explore how engineering problems can be solved by copying systems already at work in nature.
Now, Tom is working to make Northeast Ohio a national model for how to incorporate nature into kids’ education, and how to use it to make their home environments better to address behavioral and other health issues through a new nonprofit called CollaboRx.
Tom received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Elmhurst College and an honorary doctoral degree in legal studies from Baldwin-Wallace College. He and Diane have three children.
About the David Henderson Memorial Award
David Henderson was an alumni and board member of Joseph’s Home. As a board member, David was very passionate about support for our mission, shared his story often and was driven to spread awareness of Joseph’s Home any way he could. David Henderson had tremendous passion for the work of Joseph’s Home and he wanted the program to grow and serve many individuals in need because he knew firsthand how Joseph’s Home helped him. Sadly, David passed away in November 2017. To keep David’s spirit of advocacy alive, the Joseph’s Home Board of Directors designated the David Henderson Memorial Award to recognize a supporter, advocate, volunteer or partner of Joseph’s Home that embodies the spirit of David Henderson and our mission.
Michael Spangler, Board Chair of Joseph & Mary’s Home, appeared on Ideastream’s Sound of Ideas on Thursday, October 30!
Michael, along with National Health Care for the Homeless Council CEO Bobby Watts, spoke with Sound of Ideas host Stephanie Haney about medical respite and the work Joseph & Mary’s Home does to care for those who are both experiencing acute medical conditions and homelessness. They both emphasized that medical respite is both morally right, and fiscally responsible. It relieves stress on hospital systems while also caring for the most vulnerable in the community.
To listen to the full segment, visit Ideastream’s website here.
You can also go to the Sound of Ideas’s YouTube Channel and view the recording there. Additionally, it is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Exciting News: Joseph & Mary’s Home will be featured on Ideastream’s Sound of Ideas with Host Stephanie Haney on Thursday, October 30 at 9 AM ET!
Listen in to hear from Michael Spangler, Board Chair of Joseph & Mary’s Home and Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.
How to Listen Live:
Ideastream’s Sound of Ideas Website
WKSU 89.7 FM
If you can’t listen on Thursday, visit the Sound of Ideas’s YouTube Channel later in the day to hear and view the recording.
It will also be available later in the day wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.).
On Friday, September 26, we were happy to welcome Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne for a meeting with leaders, board members and staff from Joseph & Mary’s Home, Sisters of Charity Health System and the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. Executive Ronayne was able to see the new Joseph’s Home space for the first time. He heard from several key team members about the impact Joseph & Mary’s Home is making, and how appropriate funding allows medical respite in Northeast Ohio continue to serve those who are experiencing homelessness and have acute medical needs.
The County is a fervent supporter of Joseph & Mary’s Home, and we look forward to continuing this strong connection as we collaborate with Executive Ronayne and his team to best serve our men and women.
Pictured, Left from Right:
Marisa Rohn, Interim Chief Program Officer, Sisters of Charity Health System
Colleen Corrigan Day, Senior Director of Major Gifts, Sisters of Charity Health System
Ben Silver, Interim Executive Director, Joseph & Mary’s Home
Chris Ronayne, Cuyahoga County Executive
Sr. Judith Ann Karam, CSA, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine
Mike Spangler, Board Chair ,Joseph & Mary’s Home
Paula Stevens, RN Supervisor, Joseph & Mary’s Home
Sr. Catherine Walsh, CSA, Board Member and Volunteer, Joseph & Mary’s Home
Tom Tyrrell, A New Home for Healing Campaign Committee Chair, Joseph & Mary’s Home
Michael Goar, President & CEO, Sisters of Charity Health System
Thom Olmstead, Vice President, Government Affairs, Sisters of Charity Health System
Internships are beneficial to both interns and the organizations that host them. This was certainly true this summer at Joseph & Mary’s Home. Savanna Kerr, a junior at John Carroll University, interned through JCU’s Summer in the City program. Coordinated by JCU’s Center for Service-Learning and Social Action, Savanna’s internship had her at Joseph & Mary’s Home full time for 10 weeks. Savanna – who is a political science major on the pre-law track – shared her thoughts about the positive and educational experience.
Executive Director Beth Graham, who has successfully led Joseph & Mary’s Home since January 2020, is stepping down from her position to take a new role outside of Joseph & Mary’s Home and the Sisters of Charity Health System. Although the residents and staff will miss her immensely, this career change will allow Beth the flexibility to spend more time with her family. Her last day will be Monday, August 11.
Beth has provided Joseph & Mary’s Home with a steady hand, an open heart and a strategic mind. During her tenure, she:
– Coordinated the expansion of services to women with the opening of Mary’s Home.
– Spearheaded the successful completion of two capital campaigns that resulted in brand-new, ground level residences. Today, Joseph’s Home and Mary’s Home are both fully accessible to men and women, who reside in the same building but in separate wings.
– Led through a pandemic, as well as inflation and labor market shifts.
– Drove forward accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and certification from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS)
Thanks to Beth’s vision, coupled with her team’s hard work and commitment to residents, Joseph & Mary’s Home is well-positioned for long-term growth and sustainability. The mission of providing a nurturing, caring environment for adults who have acute medical needs so they can heal and achieve independence continues.
The search has commenced for Joseph & Mary’s Home’s next executive director. Beth will remain in an active leadership role until her August 11 departure, and she has been instrumental in offering succession planning ideas.
Operations continue as usual at Joseph & Mary’s Home. The Sisters of Charity Health System’s Marisa Rohn and Ben Silver will serve as interim co-executive directors until a new full-time executive director is identified.
Thank you to Beth for her excellent leadership and dedication to moving residents forward to both stable health and housing outcomes. We wish Beth and her family all the best as this next chapter begins.
St. Augustine once said, “What you want to ignite in others must first burn in yourself.” The Joseph’s Home Blessing on July 23 made it clear that a fire is ablaze with the desire to support medical respite care in Northeast Ohio!
Thank you for providing residents with a sense of hope for a brighter tomorrow. With your support, Joseph & Mary’s Home continues to be a home for healing and new beginnings.
For more photos from the Blessing, please visit Joseph & Mary’s Home’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jmhome.org.
After furniture move-in is complete in August, Joseph’s Home residents will reside in this new, fully accessible space that has rooms for 11 men.
Bishop Michael G. Woost, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, led the blessing at the new Joseph’s Home on Wednesday, July 23. The Diocese of Cleveland featured a story about the blessing on their website and in their weekly enewsletter. Visit this story to read the full write-up. Joseph & Mary’s Home will share more photos from the blessing next week, including those that offer a sneak peek at the new home for healing. Male residents will begin moving into Joseph’s Home in August, after furniture is installed.