Josiah’s House
Salem, March 7, 2023 – Rosaleen Doherty and Jay Kenney, owners of Right at Home Boston and Maine attended the national Right at Home President’s Retreat at The Sanctuary at Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic. The resort is a gorgeous destination where business organizations can meet to strategize, network and relax. The Right at Home organization used this trip to help a Dominican organization that had just gone through a devastating time. Josiah’s House, an orphanage in the area of the hotel suffered great losses from Hurricane Fiona.
Josiah’s House is an orphanage that has been operating for 9 years providing a home-like Christian environment for children to grow up in. Over half of the children in the Dominican Republic grow up in poverty. Poverty destroys family systems in many ways. The Josiah’s House creates a home for orphaned children to grow up in with love.
The home was badly damaged in the Category 4 hurricane. Rob Brown, a Right at Home franchisee in Georgia, connected with the orphanage and organized a drive where Right at Home franchisees from around the country brought clothes, school supplies, and toys for the children from the US. The drive had a massive response and the franchisees met with Josiah’s House leaders and children during one of their business meetings on the retreat. The franchisees collected and delivered a truckload of items to help the orphanage and children get back on their feet.
Rosaleen Doherty explains, “ When we learned of the service opportunity to help a local orphanage we were all in. Our Right at Home currently supports a child in the Dominican Republic through NPH, USA. Our daughter and Right at Home employee, Gabrielle Kenney completed two mission trips to the DR to build homes and schools for children right before the COVID-19 pandemic. This is how we came to sponsor a child and it is wonderful to see how she is growing. Also, the North Shore and Merrimack Valley is home to a multitude of people from the Dominican Republic. Many of our employees are of Dominican descent and have family there. This was an opportunity for us to give back on a global basis.”
The Cap Cana area was ravaged by Hurricane Fiona in September 2022. Right at Home was the first corporate group to have an event at The Sanctuary resort as many of the buildings were extensively damaged.
Right at Home’s national mission is “To improve the quality of life for those we serve”. The top Right at Home franchises in the US received the opportunity to serve children on the Dominican Republic trip versus seniors by delivering home care services.. Rosaleen Doherty states, “We are highly grateful to Rob Brown for giving Right at Home of Boston and Maine the opportunity to help these children. We live our life serving others…why not on a business trip with a beach? I will always see where I can give back to the local community whenever I travel to a place that might not have as much as we have here in the United States. It was an eye opening experience. “
Right at Home Boston and Maine is a family owned home care agency that was started in 2002 by Rosaleen Doherty and husband and business partner, Jay Kenney in 2002. They are Marblehead residents and the business is currently headquartered in downtown Salem, MA. They have expanded in their 21 years serving seniors to offices in Malden and Haverhill, Massachusetts. In 2022, they opened their first office in the Portland, Maine area.
Rosaleen is excited to serve in this board capacity and looks forward to the Council being a voice for the home care workforce and Massachusetts seniors who want to remain at home.
About Josiah’s House
● In 2007, SCORE International, a Chattanooga-based sports and evangelism ministry operating in the Dominican Republic for 30+ years, began to search for ways to minister to orphaned boys, often found homeless and destitute. At the same time, Pastor Steve Berger (Founding Pastor of Grace Chapel, Franklin, TN) was invited by a friend and SCORE Board Member, Reese Smith, to spend a few days in the DR participating in SCORE’s baseball ministry. The mornings were spent in baseball camps and ministry, while orphanages were visited in the afternoons.
● Orphanages were established more often for girls only, and when Pastor Steve and Reese visited an orphanage where boys and girls had been housed together the previous years, they saw only girls. Reese then asked the question, “Where are the boys?” This led to the discovery of very poor living conditions for the boys who had been separated and moved to another location.
● Several Grace Chapel members were in the group who saw these boys, including Sarah Berger, as well as SCORE officials, and an immediate decision was made to join hands and prayerfully commit to making a long-term commitment to provide a loving home environment where young boys could grow up knowing the love of God, receive an education, and become leaders of the future for their families and their country.
● SCORE had property in the Villa Espana section of San Pedro de Marcoris which they offered for this project. The drawings for the homes were designed, but there was no name for this complex.
During this time, the sudden and unexpected accident that took our very much loved Josiah Berger to Heaven on August 14, 2009, changed everything.
About Right at Home Boston and Maine
Right at Home is an award winning home care company that serves MA seniors in the Boston area, North Shore and the Merrimack Valley. In 2022, they opened an office to support Maine seniors in
the Portland area. They offer home care to the elderly and disabled adults who want to continue to live independently. Right at Home directly employs and supervises all care staff, each of whom is thoroughly screened, trained, and bonded/insured prior to entering a client's home.
Learn more at
http://www.rightathomemass.net or call for more information at 877-500-CARE (2273)
