“I Don’t have enough words to express what I think about Salem and how the Lord has blessed us with Salem and the amazing caring staff over the years.” – Isabel (Parent of Lorena, a Salem resident of 43 years)

‍ Isabel was born and raised in Mexico city. After she graduated from high school, she went to work for an American company that drilled oil wells for the nationally owned Mexican oil company Pemex where she met, fell in love with and married her husband, David. Leaving behind all her family David and Isabel moved to the bay area of California and gave birth to their daughter Lorena in August of 1961- the same year Salem was founded.

Lorena was a beautiful redheaded baby, but in the first three minutes following her birth she came into the world not breathing. Although three minutes is not a long time, her mother Isabel eventually concluded that it may have been the root of the developmental disabilities she would later discover. In the months that followed, around 8 months of age, Isabel began to realize Lorena was displaying signs of a developmental disability – including that she was not tracking with her eyes and not reaching for things.

Lorena eventually began to have frightening seizures, and her parents sought medical help to determine her condition. Many tests were done without ever arriving at anything conclusive about the cause of Lorena’s developmental disabilities. At one point she was even misdiagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease. These heartbreaking, medical journeys are often the lonely experiences families face when trying to get answers and help, especially in those days.  In time, the doctors concluded that they didn’t know what’s wrong other than Lorena had a developmental disability, and she may or may not learn to speak, and may be 10 years old before she can walk.

At 3.5 years old Lorena first began to sit up and at 4.5 years old she began to crawl. Eventually, the family relocated to Burbank, Ca., where Isabel was able to get Lorena into a program which was helpful in advancing Lorena to be able to walk for the first time at 10 years old on Good Friday of 1971.

Isabel’s love for Lorena and finding help for her eventually led to Isabel’s long career working in special education in the Glendale school district. She recalls the importance of California’s PL 94-142 making free education available for children with disabilities. Lorena was one of the first groups of students to benefit from the programs launched in the Glendale school district for children with developmental disabilities. These programs were available to Lorena until she turned 21 years old.

Isabel and her husband David’s concerns for Lorena welfare and long-term care grew. Isabel had heard of Salem’s reputation but had little hope Lorena would get in at Salem because Lorena condition and needs were a lot more severe than what she understood about the other kids at Salem. Isabel worried Lorena’s only option may be a state hospital.  

Never-the-less, in their quest to find a place for Lorena, Isabel and David visited Salem, and “fell in love with it.” They applied with little hope that she’d get accepted. To their surprise, Lorena was accepted into one of the original three dorms on the campus. During Lorena’s initial two-week trial stay at Salem, Isabel recalls it was the first time, She and David got a “vacation they had never had.” Lorena’s acceptance at Salem was a “God send” according to Isabel.

Isabel recalls Loren’s special relationship with her father David. Every time she visited home, David was the first one she searched out. Her father loved her very much.  David passed in 1998.