LIving in the Light: LIghthouse Christian Home

It’s just before lunch time, and like any big family there’s a flurry of people getting ready for the meal.

In the kitchen at Lighthouse Christian Home in Somers, soup is being ladled into bowls and bread being prepared. A tablecloth is spread, and the food served.

A quiet prayer begins the noon meal.

Although the people living at Lighthouse Christian Home aren’t related, they are one big, happy family. The Lighthouse home sits on 40 acres just north of Somers off of North Somers Road. It looks like a small Montana farm, with cattle, chicken and pigs, and a big garden out back. There are 15 adult residents who live at the Christian home because of a mental or physical disability. The home fills a crucial need in the Flathead Valley for adults with a disability.

After she sold her travel business several years ago Dottie Maitland was not ready to retire. She answered a help-wanted ad at Lighthouse, not knowing what the home was about. She was surprised at the laughter, fun and love shared when she first walked in the door. Now, as the development director, she’s paid to work 30 hours at the home, but she’s often there much longer — because of the happy people and the Christian mission it serves.

The home and land were donated by Lowell Bartels about 15 years ago, so there’s no mortgage on the property. Community support helps fund the rest of the operations, which amounts to about $140,000 a year. Much of the food that’s needed for residents is raised on the farm, and meal costs are down to about 70 cents per person.

A fundraiser Sept. 21 will help finance operations at the home.

Maitland sees the outpouring of support from all over the Flathead Valley for the Lighthouse. This summer a project through Rock the City, a Christian outreach organization, helped give the home a needed paint job. Sherwin Williams donated the paint. “This valley

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is one of the most giving communities I’ve seen in my life,” Maitland said.

After lunch last Wednesday, volunteer Millie Tarter worked on a jigsaw puzzle with one of the Lighthouse residents. At 91, Tarter, too, loves being around the family at Lighthouse and spends several hours a week there.

Volunteers are a crucial component of the support needed for the residents, and more volunteers are always needed. “Whatever talent someone has, we just appreciate what they give,” Maitland said.

 There are about 200 adults with disabilities in the Flathead Valley waiting for longterm housing, Lighthouse director Shirley Willis said. While there are plenty of support services, such as United Way and Flathead Industries, there’s a lack of housing. “The services are good, but are there enough placement opportunities? No,” she said.

Kim Box brought her daughter Alison from Columbia Falls last week to visit some of the residents at Lighthouse. Box sees firsthand the lack of quality residential living opportunities like Lighthouse provides. “A lot of people without places like this get funneled into a nursing home,” Box said. During a school year there are ways for a teenage adult with disabilities to live within the system. But when the person graduates high school, “All that help disappears,” Box said.

Each of the residents at Lighthouse has their own private bedroom. Some live in a small apartment downstairs, and others ‘graduate’ to a small house on the property. They call themselves “The A Team.”

Residents are offered housing based on how they fit into the family at Lighthouse. “We look at their ability, not their disability,” Willis said.

On a tour of the farm, resident Sara Maldonado proudly showed off the pigs she’s helping raise at Lighthouse. She found an apple and fed it to one of the pigs. Inside the house she worked with Alison Box on a board game. That’s the kind of connection the residents have, among themselves and even with visitors like Alison.

Maitland marvels at the love and support found at the Lighthouse. “It isn’t just the Lighthouse,” Maitland said. “It’s God’s house and God performing miracles.”

The annual Lighthouse Christian Home Harvest Festival is Sept. 21 from noon to 5 p.m. at 384 North Somers Road. The event is a fundraiser for the Christian home.

Activities and games for the family include petting zoo, live entertainment, crafts and prizes. Information at 857-3276.