Stewart Community Home

As we expand to accommodate more residents, we are in urgent need of furniture to prepare additional living spaces. If you have any of the following items and are willing to donate them, please let us know. We can arrange for pick-up if necessary. Our current needs include:
(✅ if need fulfilled- Thank you!)

Armchairs: We prefer vinyl or other wipeable materials for easy cleaning. They should have arms for safety.
✅ Dining Tables: Sturdy long tables, either dining tables or 8-foot folding tables, to accommodate our dining needs.
Chests of Drawers: Tall chests are preferred over dressers as they provide more privacy in shared living spaces and save floor space.
Wardrobes or Armoires: Ideal for hanging clothes and providing drawer storage. Unfortunately, entertainment centers are not suitable as we use these items to partition rooms and require organized storage.
Bedside Tables: Must include drawers for storage.
Durability is key, as many of our residents use walkers or have other mobility challenges.

We are doing everything we can to provide for our residents, but funds are limited. Your donations could make a significant difference and help us avoid the cost of purchasing new furniture. We are more than happy to provide tax receipts for your contributions.

Thank you so much for your continued support and generosity!

I’d be willing to bet that we have some of the absolute BEST staff around. Commitment and compassion describe all of our staff, but these two stand out going above and beyond the call of duty all the time, so we are recognizing them for June and July.

Faye works so hard to plan delicious and healthy meals on a VERY tight budget. She can always be counted on when we are short staffed or have unfilled needs at SCH even if it means putting in so many extra hours. And her potato salad is everyone’s favorite!

Austin is always kind and caring to residents and staff alike. He jumps in to help every time it’s needed with a great attitude and joyful heart. He goes above and beyond doing the hard work and even organizes a weekly Bible study for residents and staff.

Thank you Faye and Austin for your tireless work and dedication to serving. We are so grateful to have you on this team and part of the SCH family. ❤️

Happy Independence Day!

Exciting things are happening at the Stewart Community Home! We are THRILLED to introduce to you our new Executive Director, Jim Accordino. Jim comes to us with 30+ years of experience in the financial services industry and has been officially retired for eight years. He and his wife, Kit, have three children, five grandchildren, and two dogs.

Jim came to tour the Stewart Home several weeks ago with an interest in joining the Stewart Home board, but he immediately fell in love with this place (as so many of us do) and wanted to play a bigger part in it even giving up his well-earned retirement to serve as our Executive Director. We could not be more excited for the wisdom and experience that he brings with him, but we are equally grateful for his humble servant’s heart. We know that Jim’s focus on the SCH team and the people that team cares for is going to breathe new life into this incredibly special Home.

Yesterday was the annual SCH beach trip, and these residents had a blast! Special donations allow us to make some fun things like this happen, and they (and we) are SO grateful! This trip has become a highlight for some of these residents (some of whom saw the ocean for the first time on this trip), and it is such a joy to be part of. They’ll be talking about this for months. And about that time they’ll start talking about looking forward to next summer’s trip.

We want to wish our Case Manager, Melica, a big happy birthday and Mother’s Day!!! We are so thankful for all you do for us, from creative parties to kickball games, you go the extra mile always 🫶🏼 We pray this is your best year yet, full of blessings and open doors 🩷

We had the chance to go to one of our Bible study leaders’ lake homes last week: Tom and Susan, thank you!

Residents got to fish, take rides around the property and cookout. They had a blast!

Enjoying this lovely day in our garden 🌸

Take a look at our latest newsletter to find out what's going on at the home! We have some big announcements that you don't want to miss.

As always, we (especially our residents) are so thankful for your continued support!

https://conta.cc/3w0xlnI

The Stewart Scoop About Us | Programs | Contact Us "From the comfort of our own homes, it is hard to understand the complexities of poverty and homelessness." Opening our doors to the disabled homeless population throu

The book mobile stopped by our home today so residents could return/ check more books.

BIG SMILES ALL AROUND 😊📚❤️

Thank you to all of our partners who help make sure our residents have activities. We appreciate you!!

Hello Facebook friends!

We need your help! We have been given the opportunity to purchase this van from a local church at a highly discounted price of $13,000 (regularly $25k!!!) plus $2,000 for a new wrapping.

It would greatly help with transporting our residents around town for outings and trips.

Would you partner with us in making this possible? Feel free to contact Ashlee at [email protected] or calling 706-327-2707.

Thank you for all your help in making this possible!

We’ve got some bittersweet news: We’re saying goodbye to our Executive Director, Kara VinZant this week.

A message from Kara:

“As Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “there is a season and a time for everything under Heaven.” I never thought that I would say that about my time at Stewart Community Home, yet here I am. After nearly seven years, I am stepping away from this place—a place that I love beyond words. The residents, staff, and Board of Directors at Stewart Community Home have become my family, and I will always cherish every minute of time I have spent here. I have learned so much from all of them, but more than anything else, they have taught me about loving and caring for others, even when it is hard.

I am sharing my decision to leave Stewart with all of you because I want to make sure that everyone knows that this place is still filled with incredible care and compassion, stability, and healing for those who need it most. I do not take my decision to leave lightly, but it is the correct thing for my own family at this time. Stewart Community Home will forever be in my heart. Thank you so much for all of the support that you have given Stewart Community Home and me over the last seven years—please always continue to do so!

Sincerest thanks for everything,

Kara VinZant”

Kara’s last day at the home is Friday April 12th. Join us in thanking her for her time here and wish her well in her future!

We’ve been busy celebrating April Birthdays! Please join us in wishing our residents a big Happy Birthday! 🎂🎉

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day today at Stewart Home! Residents enjoyed homemade goodies brought in by the staff ☘️ Have a safe weekend!

It’s warming up outside, and we need your help! If you have any large flower pots available to donate so that our residents can plant and take care of flowers, please send them our way! 🌺 🌹 🌸

Melica Vojnovski Lenoir, our Case Manager, and I attended this great event yesterday. We are hopeful about the contacts we made and conversations we had. The Stewart Home is the only non-profit home that is a part of GSLA. We are blessed to be a part of this great organization.

A nice surprise this week… this sweet lady, Ms. Judy, came by the Home to drop off several boxes of new clothing to donate to our residents. It turns out that she is our founder’s first cousin. It was such a fun and unexpected blessing to show her around as she admired how far the Stewart Home has come. She reminisced about how she had helped the Stewarts when they first started the Home in the late 70s. She remembered helping in the med room and keeping an eye on the very young Stewart children who were also very involved in their mother’s work. What a legacy Mrs. Sarah Stewart has left behind! Thank you for coming by to see us, Ms. Judy, and for sharing your stories about the Home and Mrs. Stewart. She is very much missed but remembered so fondly.❤️

The SMILES on these faces…. I wish that all of you who so generously give gifts and send support our way could have been there today to see what the blessings you give mean to our residents. I know that gifts are just things, but for those who have had so little, the “things” that they have needed or wanted and never had bring such great joy. And it is beautiful to behold. Thank you!

And a special thank you to our Santa this year who brought so much fun and life to our party with his North Pole stories and warm greetings!

Hoping all of you had a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving with your families and loved ones. As you are out (or in) black Friday shopping, I wanted to go ahead and share our annual resident amazon wish list with you as there are some great deals today. Thank you for considering making some Christmas wishes come true for our residents. There will be a few more added as people come into the Home before Christmas, and we try to make some magic for all. You may notice some children's items on our list this year. We only house adults, but we have a couple of young women who, due to their diagnoses, are developmentally younger than their physical age. They are incredibly precious and innocent and enjoy taking care of dolls and having tea parties.

Every year we ask our residents to tell us three things that they would really like to have for Christmas, and every year we try to find a way to provide them that won’t take away from our already extremely tight budget. Most of the lists contain things like underwear and socks. We do provide these things as they are donated, but there is just something about getting a whole pack to yourself. Some of the residents request “luxury” items like perfume or cologne. They may have spent time on the streets where a shower was a luxury they didn’t have, so smelling nice is a special luxury (and important to them and their feeling of dignity.) Many of our residents will respond with “I don’t need anything.” But you should see their faces light up at Christmas when they unwrap a gift chosen especially for them. Creating the list takes time because a wish list generally says “XL sweater” or “digital watch,” and then those items are carefully chosen as one would with any member of their family with such a request. It makes me smile that a lot of our longtime residents’ lists look the same from year to year. They have used up their favorite perfume from the last year or they look forward to the Hillshire farms sausage and cheese gift set every year. Many ask for shoes. Those who can walk do a lot of it, so we try to choose good walking shoes for them. Some of the ladies ask for a nice pair of dress shoes for church. If you can and would like to make some of these wishes come true and put smiles on these special faces this year, please choose an item or two from our amazon wish list to send directly to us. I try to choose items based on the request but consider the price and quality as well, and prices on amazon change frequently. If you prefer to shop yourself, those sausage and cheese gift sets are a big hit. We also TRY to provide Walmart gift cards each year as well so that residents can feel empowered to shop for themselves. Any help is truly appreciated. Your compassion and generosity make such a huge difference in the lives of people who haven’t always experienced much of it. Thank you for your consideration and compassion!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/H15P31U1E7TK?ref_=wl_share

Update: Some of our residents' favorite treats are often their favorite foods or a food gift box for themselves. This is a more reasonable way to send those than amazon, so I am adding it in place of overpriced foods on amazon. Thank you for asking!! And if you prefer to shop yourself, feel free to drop anything off to us. We are grateful for any help!

https://www.walmart.com/registry/ER/a7fdb8eb-be27-4d28-bc51-2ef6dadb1c99

We try not to discuss politics or world-happenings as they are usually impersonal and not always relevant to happenings at the Stewart Home, but I am going to delve into that as we have certainly seen a lot in the news lately about mental illness—the exact same mental illnesses that we manage every day at Stewart Home. That being said, I think it is important to share some numbers with you because it is imperative to understand the size and the scope of mental illness not only as an issue in our country and our world, but also how it affects our own community. I hope you will stay with me and continue reading this post as it was written with sincerity. The residents of the Stewart Home are really special, amazing people, but they are also mentally ill, and I believe it is vital for our community to have a snapshot of what that looks like and why our success in managing them is so important.

In 2022, the World Health Organization found that chronic mental illness such as Schizophrenia affects about 24 million people, that’s 1 in 300 people worldwide. Another study from the National Institute of Health found that as many as 45% of the adult homeless population have a schizophrenia-related diagnosis. I am going to “bring it home” a little bit by sharing our state of Georgia facts. In the state of Georgia, there are only 600 licensed mental health beds—let me state that again—600 beds – that number is supposed to be enough for 159 counties and 10.7 million people. So, in Georgia alone, if we go by general statistics, there are approximately 35,667 chronically mentally ill people. Georgia is ranked as the 3rd from last in how it takes care of mentally ill citizens. According to a story shared last month on Fox News, we are ranked second to last on how much money our state allocates to support mentally ill citizens. In our neighboring state of Alabama, there are only 240 state-licensed mental health beds. Those beds are supposed to cover its 67 counties and 5 million people. (Oddly enough, Russell County, Alabama Commissioners know this and give money to the Stewart Home to assist with their residents while Columbus, Georgia provides no money.) According to Mental Health America, only half of the adults in the United States who have mental health disorders even attempt to seek treatment. These numbers are extremely disturbing and certainly give great perspective when discussing the mental health crisis, especially at the Stewart Home, where we serve our community’s homeless mentally ill adults.

The residents at the Stewart Home have diagnoses comprised of Schizophrenia, Schizo-affective Disorder, Bipolar, Depression, Anxiety, Chronic PTSD, Chronic PPD, Autism, and the list goes on and on. We deal with multiple personalities, delusions, fears, outbursts, hearing voices, suicidal-homicidal ideations, seizures, and many other symptoms that occur with mental illness diagnoses. These diagnoses quickly become people at Stewart Home because the staff see them and manage them every day. We have people such as our mother-daughter residents, Dora and Camila. These women were living in their car and surviving on the daughter Camila’s monthly disability check of $914 until the car completely broke down and it was towed off from their parking spot. Dora tells of moving through the city and living behind dumpsters and between stores. Dora and Camila were not allowed to stay in other shelters because Camila has “behaviors” that were not acceptable or comfortable to be around. When they tried other shelters, they were asked to leave when Camila would become anxious and scream or hit herself in the face or attack and bite her mother. Dora says she has tried to look for a job, but she cannot leave Camila unattended.

Dora and Camila came to Stewart Home by chance. Our kitchen door was open because one of our cooks was finishing with supper clean up and was taking out the trash. Dora said she smelled the food and asked if there was food that she and her daughter could have. Dora shared that they had not eaten “real food” for a couple of days. Our kitchen employee called me at home and asked if she could feed them. That conversation led to allowing them to stay for the night. Our team met them the next morning and they are now residents of the Stewart Home. We are assisting Dora in the management and care of Camila as they work hard to get their lives back together. Dora is dealing with her own versions of mental illness, ones that we are more familiar with—anxiety and depression—while Camila can be better managed and cared for with her autism. Dora is extremely thankful for what the Stewart Home can do for her and her daughter.

This past year, we have had a shift in resident ages at the Stewart Home. Currently, more than half of our residents are under 50 years of age. We have six residents who are under 25. One of our most recent young residents came from a police officer’s referral. The officer was called to a grocery store to handle issues with a young lady who had been loitering around the store for some time. The officer stated that when he arrived, he found the young woman crying and distressed. During questioning, he learned that she had “aged out” of the foster care system and she no longer had a home. After some phone calls, the officer learned that her story was indeed true. It was also very apparent that the young woman had some intellectual disabilities and was in no condition to make sound decisions for herself. Her diagnoses of schizoaffective disorder, anxiety, and depression simply do not allow for making those sound life decisions. With the help of this officer and New Horizons Behavioral Health, this young woman is now a resident at Stewart Community Home, and she will likely be a long-term resident with us.

The Stewart Home is not an emergency shelter though we often feel like one because some people come to us in emergency situations that no other agency can help with. The Stewart Home is a 68-bed, Georgia Department of Community Health Healthcare Facility Regulation Division licensed personal care home with 24/7 staff to meet the needs of the people who live here. It has a full kitchen staff that prepares three meals and two snacks every day. It has a fully functional medication room complete with facility nurses, floor staff, and case management who handle resident needs from doctors’ appointments, medication management, transportation, personal hygiene needs, and finding resources for transitional help with housing to job training, etc. We have a large clothing closet so that we can ensure all residents have good, appropriate seasonal clothing at all times.
We work hand-in-hand with other mental health organizations such as American Works, the Assertive Community Treatment team, New Horizons, Pathways of LaGrange, and East Alabama Mental Health to ensure that our residents can function at their highest ability. At this present time, we have ten residents who are managed by the state’s case management program as they were released from inpatient care, yet they are not stable enough to live within the community and manage themselves independently—two of those are court-ordered to be here.
Over the last five years, 357 people have been admitted to the Stewart Home on either a transitional or long-term basis. Stewart Home typically houses between 75 and 125 people each year at different times. Some residents live at Stewart for 6 months, and some have lived there for 30 years. Each resident's needs are assessed and met on an individual basis. By extension, Stewart Home strengthens our community by improving wellness, equity, and quality of life for its most vulnerable population. The community and other agencies benefit because Stewart Home is a place for people with extraordinary needs to go and be taken care of appropriately with care and compassion. We are relied on by other homeless shelters, law enforcement personnel, judges, hospitals, mental health facilities, many other social services agencies, and the community at large to manage this population in the way that they need to live stable and functional lives on a long-term basis. The Stewart Home receives calls daily from these other agencies as well as agencies throughout the southeast area. There is not another facility that does all that we do within the state of Georgia or Alabama.
The operational cost of running the Stewart Home breaks down to about $1400 per resident per month, which is MUCH less than a nursing home or other inpatient care facility. Sometimes the people who come to us have disability income around $900 per month. Once in a while, someone may receive VA benefits or disability around $1200 per month, but that is very rare. Much of the time, the people who come seeking help in desperation have absolutely no income. They might be eligible for it but have no one to assist them with the process—which can be very lengthy. We have had residents living at Stewart for whom it sometimes takes YEARS to get approved for benefits. We all know that housing in the Columbus community that includes all utilities and meals for even $1200 per month is virtually nonexistent.
Our case managers work diligently to secure disability benefits and other resources for incoming residents which will help cover the cost of copays for medical care and medication. Many who come to us haven’t been to a doctor in years. They live in crisis without medication because they can’t get it without actively being under a doctor’s care and they often have to choose to spend their money on food to survive rather than to get the medication they need to function. Often, these people are unstable, and it really takes some effort to get them stabilized. Many have lost their driver license, birth certificate, and social security card or had them stolen.
There is a HUGE amount of work that goes into each of these processes to help those who come through the doors of the Stewart Home. And during all that time, we are praying and actively seeking the financial help it takes to cover the cost of keeping the Stewart Home open. Because even IF the people who come to us have $800 or $1200 in disability income, that amount can only defray the cost of their housing and care, it does not completely cover it. The Stewart Home cannot exist without the financial help it takes to house and care for our community’s most vulnerable people. And without the Stewart Home, this population would be on the street.
We could not do what we do without your continued partnership and support. We will continue to stand firm on Luke 6:38 that states, “give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” All of us at Stewart Home know that God is still doing God-sized things every day. We appreciate all of your support in many forms—prayers, finances, time, talents, board participation, as it has had an overall positive impact on hundreds of residents since 1976.

It is with much sadness that we say goodbye to our longtime resident and friend, Thomas Kerlin. He leaves behind many friends at the Stewart Home who will miss him dearly. We are honored by the gifts that have been given to the Stewart Home by his friends and family in Thomas’s memory to help those in need.

Thomas “Tom” Marlin Kerlin Obituary (1963 - 2023) | Columbus, Georgia Find the obituary of Thomas “Tom” Marlin Kerlin (1963 - 2023) from Columbus, GA. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care.

We could use some help.... we have a very large food donation being delivered by 18 wheeler next week, but we need a pallet jack and fork lift (with operator) to unload it from the truck to the ground. If you know someone who has one or could point us to someone to hire for the day or half of the day.... we would be SO very grateful. Thank you!!

It has been some time since I have shared the story about one of our Veteran residents—one who still lives at the Stewart Home and was in fact, one of my first admissions in my job as Executive Director. As I have shared sometime before, this Veteran was found by a Phenix City police officer, and I was called to see if I could help. After quite an ordeal and a long hospital stay, this man became a resident at the Stewart Home and has been there since early 2018. He came to us off the street and like many homeless persons that come through our doors, he had absolutely nothing. He could share his name, date of birth, and social security number, but he did not have his identification as it had been stolen from him at some point during his time of living on the street. He told us that he served in the Army National Guard from 1971 to 1980 and that he was a Vietnam Veteran, but he certainly did not have his DD-214 or any other papers that showed his service.

Along with mental illness, this sweet man has stage 4 lung cancer, and he is in his last days. Working with a cancer patient whose cancer has metastasized to his brain is certainly not easy. Recently, we had to send our resident to the hospital because he was at a point of needing some additional care that we could not give. The hospital treated him but sent him right back to us via ambulance within a few hours. We have been working to find possible nursing home placement for this resident, but I learned this week that a person must stay in the hospital for three days and the hospital staff must be willing to complete paperwork for a person to be approved for nursing home Medicaid and nursing home care. Unfortunately, my resident did not get this option, nor does he have a family member who can advocate for him. Thankfully, we have Gentiva Hospice working with us as we work towards ensuring that our resident’s last days and last wishes are respected and honored, and Gentiva’s staff have been fantastic, but they are also very limited in what they can do.

At the same time that I have been trying to manage the care of my resident, I was given the opportunity to spend time at Warrior Outreach in Harris County and listen to a group of Nashville song writers come together with Veterans and write songs about their experiences while serving our country. I have been thinking about a particular song ever since I heard it, especially as it relates to the situation of caring for the Veterans that live at Stewart Home.
The song was written with the help of one of my favorite people, Tom, a Veteran himself, who continues to serve his brothers after retirement. Tom’s song talks about the role he and his other Ranger brothers have chosen after they have finished their enlisted service to the country, but they continue to serve in yet another role. This secondary role is to provide an es**rt to a Veteran who has passed from this world. The Son’s of Mosby Motorcycle Association, the group in which Tom is a member, rides with the Veteran to his or her final resting place and presents the flag to the family. The song stresses how common it is for these great men to complete this task but there are not too many people who can relate to what it feels like to be the last person to stand in the gap for that soldier. The song is called “Uncommon Common.”

Being the Director of the Stewart Community Home, I find that I can often relate to this “uncommon common” because we are often the only ones left to physically care for those who live at the home—the only one to stand in the gap. My Veteran in this story is no different. He does not have a voice except for ours. This situation is one that I find myself in very often and I would love to see it being different. I know that I will be with my sweet friend as his days on this earth come to an end. I know that I will also be the one to make arrangements for the care of his body and his funeral among friends at the Stewart Home. I will likely be the one to say the words of comfort to those he spent his last days with. I am certainly not asking for sympathy through this process as it has become part of what I do. I am asking that if you read this story or any of the others, please consider calling your congressmen/women and government leaders and asking the tough questions of why it is so difficult for people to receive the medical care they need. Ask them why there is not something in place for people at end-of-life to be able to receive appropriate end-of-life care. Ask them why hospice care is not covered when someone doesn’t actually have insurance—they certainly cover children and women who give birth to children—yet the elderly and the infirm are not always covered. Ask them why a Veteran who gave nine years of service to this country would not be a priority during his death.

Regardless of how this ends for my resident, he will be loved and cared for as he leaves this world and goes to the next. He will receive his flag and join the ranks of the other “uncommon commons” until we all make things happen differently for these people—the ones who need us so much.