ABOUT US
MISSION STATEMENT:
Our mission is to provide a safe and supportive home environment where residents with developmental disabilities and mental health can thrive. We are committed to fostering personal growth, health and safety and societal integration by respecting each individual’s strengths and choices. Through advocacy, and a dedication to quality services, we aim to empower individuals to lead fulfilling lives with dignity, respect, and opportunity.
VISION STATEMENT:
Our vision is to create a space where individuals with developmental disabilities can experience meaningful, and fulfilling lives. We strive to be a model home that fosters inclusion, dignity, and personal growth by providing care and opportunities to our residents for community engagement. Through advocacy, and unwavering commitment, we aim to inspire a society that values and celebrates the unique contributions of every individual.
"People living with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health deserve to live the fulfilling life they so desire,"
The Antoinette Tubman Cheshire Home is a Non-For-Profit Organization established for the sole purpose of responding to a major challenge impacting on the welfare of children with special needs, suffering from Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and physical disabilities, including those with Cerebral Palsy. Children with Cerebral Palsy and other disabilities were being abandoned at JFK Hospital and other locations around the country.
The organization was established in 1985 by a group of concerned members of the community who sought to resolve this issue by identifying a facility to care for these children.
Among those first Board members were: Dr. Kate Bryant, first Board Chair, Mae Gene Best, Charlotte Mae Phelps, wife of the then French Ambassador, former Liberian Ambassador, His Excellency, G. Flama Sherman, and the aforementioned Archbishop Michael Francis and His Excellency, Ambassador Dougal Reid.
The home currently has 14 residents who are being cared for by our committed and dedicated staff.
The Antoinette Tubman Cheshire home has no fixed source of income, but has relied on support from dedicated individuals, Families, Friends, Organizations, both locally and internationally who have a passion to help people with special needs.
BRIEF HISTORY
The Antoinette Tubman Cheshire Home was established in 1985 to address a major challenge impacting on the welfare of children with special needs.
The Problem:
Children with Cerebral Palsy and other disabilities were being abandoned at JFK Hospital and other locations around the country. A group of concerned members of the community sought to resolve this issue by identifying a facility to care for these children. A member of this group from the first Board of Directors, Archbishop Michael Francis, of the Catholic Archdiocese of Liberia offered to provide housing for the children in Virginia. The Archdiocese had a compound donated to them by Mrs. Antoinette Tubman, former First Lady of Liberia. At the time, the compound also housed an Orphanage named after the former First Lady, The Antoinette Tubman Orphanage.
Another Board member, then British Ambassador, His Excellency Dougal Reid, invited the British-based Leonard Cheshire Foundation to assist the Home financially. The home operated from this location in Virginia with financial support from this British based foundation and a rewarding relationship developed between the two groups. Because of this good relationship, it was decided that the name of the organization be changed to reflect this good bond of friendship. Hence, the name Antoinette Tubman Cheshire Home became the new name.
Among those first Board members were: Dr. Kate Bryant, first Board Chair, Mae Gene Best, Charlotte Mae Phelps, wife of the then French Ambassador, former Liberian Ambassador, His Excellency, G. Flama Sherman, and the aforementioned Archbishop Michael Francis and His Excellency, Ambassador Dougal Reid.
JFK Hospital contributed medical staffing in the form of nurses’ aides as caregivers and a nurse as the Home's Director.
