Georgia Magazine - August 2022 - 17

Right: Andrea Faris Roberts, center, and a group of moms
who adopted special-needs children through Reece's Rainbow
gather at the Terrace Guest House in New Market, Md.
Below left: Fathers of children with lissencephaly,
a rare neurological disorder, take a group hike in North
Georgia. Below right: Members of the Down Syndrome
Association of Atlanta gather at Lawton Place Manor.
" There were no expectations that we had to participate in
activities or come out of our rooms, " she says. " We could sleep
all we wanted, binge on Netflix, stay in our pajamas all day-all
without guilt. We could do anything we truly wanted for those
three days. "
She and her friend found themselves connecting with
several other caregivers-sharing morning coffee and heading
to lunch and an afternoon wine-tasting in nearby Helen. A spa
session in Clarkesville rounded out her weekend.
" The most important thing is that we each could be spontaneous
and do whatever we wanted, from activities and being
social to simply being on our own. We mostly found ourselves
bonding over shared stories, similar life experiences and
common interests, " says Moore, an acute-care nurse. " I was able
to get a full night's sleep, go shopping for myself and just have
some time for me. "
A Mother's Rest is born
Andrea Faris Roberts has a child with special needs herself,
so she knows the importance of respite for caregivers.
When Roberts' first son, Reece, was born 20 years ago
with Down syndrome, life for Andrea and her husband, Rich,
changed dramatically.
" There were days when we just didn't know what to do or
know who to turn to, " says Roberts, who lived in Dacula at the
time. " Rich was traveling for work and rarely home, and it was
very isolating. Plus I was grieving and fearful of what the future
would hold for our family. "
Her second son, Owen, was born in 2004.
" I was dealing with a toddler with Down
syndrome and an infant, " she says. " I was deeply
struggling. "
In 2006, she founded Reece's Rainbow, an
international organization that facilitates the
adoption of children with special needs by American
families. Over more than a decade, she found homes
for more than 2,000 children with special needs from
overseas orphanages.
" By 2016, I desperately needed an escape for
myself. Not only was I running Reece's Rainbow
and keeping those families afloat emotionally, I was
dealing with Reece at 14, " she says. " A Mother's Rest
was created because of the needs of my adoptive
families, and [I retired] from Reece's Rainbow to
focus on recuperative health and fellowship for these
families. "
Roberts now serves as founder and executive
director of A Mother's Rest Charitable Respite
Foundation, which is headquartered in New Market,
Md. The foundation owns and operates two yearround
respite inns: Lawton Place Manor in Mount
Airy and the Terrace Guest House in New Market, Md.
Both inns are housed in historic homes with gardens,
private bedrooms, either private or shared baths,
www.georgiamagazine.org 17
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COURTESY A MOTHER'S REST
COURTESY A MOTHER'S REST
COURTESY A MOTHER'S REST
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Georgia Magazine - August 2022

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