Stories from current and former residents:

Jason was a resident of cottage 5 in 1991 for about a year and a half, and a resident of our Supervised Independent Living Program for another year.  Now married for 13 years with 3 kids, Jason has nothing but nice things to say about his time here at Vanderheyden and the lessons he learned here about life.
 
School made the biggest impact on Jason's life.  While attending Troy High School, his math teacher Mrs. Vargas taught him to love numbers.  Something that Jason carried with him throughout the rest of his life as CPA.  After graduating from Troy High School, he attended Union college. Jason is currently an independent consultant who own 2 homes and travels all over the United States with his clients.
 
Paul Winston (currently the Director of Facilities) was the house manager for Cottage 5 while Jason lived here, "he was the best staff to have, he was a whole bunch of fun".  Dion Petteys was also a great source of positive influence to Jason, preaching all the good that the kids could do in their lives.  "You never heard anything negative from the staff."
 
While living at Vanderheyden, Jason learned basic life skills that still impact his life today.  He continues to be a "neat freak", and does all the cooking for his family.
 
What Jason misses most about his time at Vanderheyden were the camping trips, playing on the softball team, or playing basketball in the gym. One of his greatest memories of his childhood was being able to play basketball with a then future NBA star Lamar Odom.
 
Jason's advice to the resident's of Vanderheyden: take what you can get and make the best out of it.  Of the former classmates and roommates that Jason has kept in touch with, he feels that those who put in the work here at Vanderheyden were able to make "pretty normal" lives for themselves.