The More Than Ever Trust and Education Foundation

When Gregory was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2004, he and I went to a lawyer who specializes in helping seniors with life planning and to set up trusts to insure that the rest of their lives could be well lived financially and medically.

Gregory divested all of his savings, investments, titles etc by giving them to me and I in turn gave them to the trust for which he acts as trustee. This maneuver helped Gregory qualify for Medicaid some ten years later.

Making these "end of life" decisions was not easy, but every time we left our lawyer's office we felt a sense of empowerment over being able to control some of our future. 

For example, for a while we struggled with deciding between burial and cremation but the decision became much easier when we realized that the issue was not burial vs cremation, but rather that we wanted to live, not to die. And since we cannot control that, the decision came easily. Cremation it is.

We had to name the trust and decided to choose a sound bite that we had been using since we received the diagnosis of Alzheimer's: I love you more than ever and our love will continue to grow as it has since the day we met!

So it became: The More Than Ever Trust FBO (for the benefit of)) Michael A. Horvich 1997. I will also act as the current trustee with provisions are made in the trust to take care of Gregory L. Maire in the event that I pre-decease him. 

The other day, I visited our lawyer again to make sure our "papers" were all in order and to set up La Casa Norte as recipient of some of our estate when we die to provide education / job training for candidates select by Casa Norte who through their community programs have proven themselves capable and serious about improving their life though education.

This is a video of my telling Gregory about the Educational Foundation. I think he understood and his engagement and amazement at the possibility of doing this is apparent.

We have been working with Casa Norte for many years via cash donations, attending events, donating Michael's photography and jewelry to auctions, giving many of Gregory's computers, desks, chairs, and lamps to their newly opened half-way house when he closed his business, sending outlived clothing to their Care Closet in which young men can choose clothing for job interviews (can you imagine how excited they would be when finding one of Gregory's expensive Armini suits or shirts and expensive shoes on the closet racks?) and giving food to their community pantry.

Casa Norte's mission is to serve youth and families confronting homelessness providing access to stable housing and deliver comprehensive services that act as a catalyst to transform lives and communities. So Casa Norte seemed to Gregory and I, the most logical place to lend our support and a "passing it forward" for been so fortunate to have lived the life and love Gregory and I shared.

This is a second video the shows Gregory's continued excitement about this decision which we had talked about many times in the past when he was more able to do so and his joy at our being able to do this.

Here are a few of the wonderful things Casa Norte is doing:

Housing

La Casa Norte follows a housing first model and offers a continuum of housing resources and opportunities to youth and families who are at-risk or experiencing homelessness throughout 43 different zip codes in Chicago.
Our programs include permanent, transitional, and emergency housing options that aim to support our clients as they work towards long-term stability and self-sufficiency.
We collaborate with a large network of property owners to increase housing stability and opportunities throughout the community.

Support Services

At La Casa Norte, we believe that both, housing and supportive services are critical to ending homelessness. Our programs include life-skills and technology training, education support, employment-readiness, case management, therapy, food, clothing, and transportation assistance.
Our efforts to collaborate with an extensive network of human service organizations allow us to offer additional resources to our clients. Through the support of our partners, we are also able to offer clients access to mental health and substance abuse treatment, medical care, day care, legal advocacy and other needed assistance to support their increased housing and economic stability.