The Becoming Her Collective

On my mother's birthday we couldn't make it down, and I felt just awful about it. But Ms. Reina showed up with balloons and a cake like it was her own mama's birthday, and when I called that night, all my mother could talk about was how special she felt. I cried happy tears myself.

— A grateful son

I called to check on Mother one morning and she was already up, dressed, sitting by the window watching for the car. She said "Ms. Reina's coming to walk with me today," like a child waiting on Christmas morning. That's when I knew this was different.

— A thankful daughter

The day my dad went out with Ms. Reina, I picked him up expecting the usual quiet ride home. Instead he wouldn't stop talking, telling me every little detail like he was twenty years younger. I hadn't heard him laugh like that in I don't know how long.

— A relieved family member

My mother came home from the Sip & Paint holding that little painting up like it was the Mona Lisa. It's been sitting by her chair ever since, and every single person who walks through that door hears the whole story of how she made it. Every time, just as excited as the first.

— A daughter

We tried for two years to teach my dad how to video call and finally just gave up on it. Then Ms. Reina sat with him one afternoon, patient the whole way through, and now every Sunday my phone rings and it's him, grinning, asking to see the grandkids.

— A grateful son

The week Mom was in the hospital was the hardest one of my life. I walked in one afternoon and Ms. Reina was sitting right by her bed, fixing her hair and making her laugh about something. I just stood in the doorway a minute, so grateful I couldn't speak.

— A thankful family

My grandmother lives three states away from me in North Carolina, and I used to worry myself sick about her. Then my grandma told me how she met Ms. Reina and wanted to try her instead of the old home health agency. She is in absolute heaven now. I don't worry anymore — I know she's safe and happy.

— A granddaughter, Becoming Together

I'll be honest, I didn't think my husband would ever go for The Village Within — he's not a "sit around and chat" kind of man. Well, he came home from his first time talking my ear off about somebody's fishing story, and he hasn't missed a single gathering since.

— A wife, on The Village Within

My father served two tours and he does not open up, not even to us. But I overheard him telling Ms. Reina a story from his service one day, laughing about it, and I had to walk out of the room so he wouldn't see me tear up. Somebody finally understood him.

— A veteran's daughter