| Ian Troxell | Carol Carbone | Krista Harakal | Nicole Fort | Darryl Goode |
| Paul Scheuerle | Millie Stenhouse | Kurt Cortazzo | Olivia Sterner |

Journey of Faith

Tom and Mildred Stenhouse have embarked on many journeys in their 57 years of marriage. But perhaps the most inspiring has been their faith journey together. It brought the Bethlehem, Pa., couple to a place they never thought they’d be – Good Shepherd; Tom, as an employee many years ago in what is now known as the Work Services division, and most recently, Mildred, as a recovering stroke patient, being nursed back to health by “angels” in the form of Good Shepherd’s caregivers.

This is their story
In 1971, Tom Stenhouse was a man in need of a job. The affable, blue-eyed Scotsman had carved out a successful management career in industrial engineering before embarking with a partner on a short-lived private business venture.

Out of work and with a daughter’s upcoming wedding to pay for, Tom and Millie did what they’ve always done. They turned to their Christian faith and prayed.

The answer came when Tom found out about an opening as operations manager of the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Workshop which employed people with disabilities and partnered with companies. After three rounds of interviews, Tom was offered the job. At $8,000 a year, it was substantially less than what he was accustomed to making.

“I swallowed hard and I said, ‘I don’t know why Tom Stenhouse is saying yes, but I do think the Lord has a plan for me. And He did. He did,” Tom says quietly.

Tom’s decision was a turning point in his and Millie’s lives. Neither had any experience with people who had a disability, but through the years, they gained a deeper appreciation and formed many close friendships. “After Tom started working here, I became involved too, helping wrap Christmas gifts for the residents and visiting people,” Millie says. “Our children also did volunteer work in the summer. I really believe it was God’s hand at work. We’ve gained so much.”

Tom’s first day on the job, he realized he was going to have to adapt to managing a workforce very different than the one he was accustomed to. It was humbling. “I walked in there and said, I don’t think I’m going to be able to perform here because of these handicapped people struggling to do things,” Tom recalls. “And yet, they were eager and so excited about their lives and obviously happy… Gradually, the Lord brought me to understand.”

Understanding came in the form of a man named Billy Anderson.

Angels at Work

In the early morning of January 3, 2006, Millie Stenhouse rose out of bed to head for the bathroom.

She never made it. “I just slid down on the floor,” Millie recalls. “I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t stand. I didn’t realize what happened.”

Tom knew what happened though. Looking at his beloved wife, he could see she’d had a stroke. “Her face was deformed. Her lip was pulled down to one side,” he says.

A pretty petite woman with an engaging smile and green eyes to match, Millie prided herself on her strong streak of independence and survival instincts – traits honed growing up in England during WWII. She had always been fit and agile, enjoying gardening, cooking and painting. Now, here she was helpless, unable to use her left arm and leg or speak clearly.

After five days in the hospital, Millie was ready for intense rehabilitation therapy. The Stenhouses were given several choices. “There was no question where we wanted to go,” Tom said. “That was Good Shepherd.”

Millie was admitted to Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown. Now, it was her turn to experience life as a person with a disability and it brought back memories from long ago when she drove by and gave a sympathetic look to residents in wheelchairs outside the Conrad W. Raker Center.

But from the beginning, Millie was determined not to stay in that wheelchair any longer than she had to. Therapy began right away – physical, occupational and speech.

Tom and Millie call Good Shepherd’s therapists, “angels,” and praise them for their seemingly infinite capacity for caring and holistic approach to their work. “They really want to make you feel like a person again and give you constant encouragement,” Millie says.

After a week, Millie was cleared to go home. But it became apparent their comfortable two-story home of 20 years wouldn’t be practical for someone unable to climb stairs. Tom and Millie talked about selling and even looked for a one-level ranch style home.

But Millie resisted being a victim of her disabilities. “I was determined not to leave my home I’d worked so hard on,” she says with great resolve. “It would have been too traumatic.”

Working with Access Ability, Inc., a local company owned by a dear friend, a motorized lift was installed going up to the second floor and another one going to the basement where Millie does many of her therapy exercises with Tom as coach.

Other adaptive equipment was installed in the bathroom, making it possible for Millie to keep going forward with the activities of everyday life.

Millie continued coming to Good Shepherd for outpatient therapy and now says she is 90 percent back to normal. “Good Shepherd gave me my life back,” she says. “And I never once was angry with God for my stroke. I believe it happened for a reason. I now look at people who are hurt or injured with a bigger heart.”

Led by the Lord

Tom’s first day on the job may have been fraught with misgivings about his ability to adapt to a unique work force, but it also was the beginning of a remarkable education by an equally remarkable man.

Billy Anderson was born without arms or legs, yet he was a valued member of the Good Shepherd workforce with extraordinary capabilities and determination. Sensing Tom’s unease, Billy took Tom aside to help him adjust. One way he did that was by asking Tom to put his engineering background to use by helping him build a device he could attach to his bathtub at home so he could shampoo and scrub his hair.

In the 20 years that Tom worked at Good Shepherd, eventually retiring in 1991 as vice president of industrial services, he would design and create many innovative devices that helped people work more efficiently.

“There was an eagerness with these people to do things they’d never been challenged to do before,” Tom says. “We started to get contracts from major corporations that were interesting and challenging … I just saw amazing growth in the 20 years that I was there.”

Tom’s Good Shepherd years were among the best because he was able to put his faith in action and nurture it through relationships that resonate in his and Millie’s lives to this day.

“The Lord was leading me,” he says with conviction, “and He’s been by my side ever since … He gave me all I needed to do my work – patience, understanding and the ability to go out and bring jobs in that the people were capable of doing. And I learned that nothing is too difficult for people with disabilities.”