❤ Molly Dobson – DONOR ❤

“You need that purpose. A sense of purpose and deciding what’s most important to you, where you would most like to share your riches with those who are in need. It’s hard to be a good donor. You have to be very conscientious. … I like concentrating on my own community, where I can know the need, I can know the leadership, I can know what’s being accomplished and how purposeful it is.

“Grief is so absorbing and so negative, and so hard to get away from. … Maybe you’ll never mend, but partially mend, or get closer to total mend. I’m just so glad Ele’s Place Ann Arbor is in our community.” ❤

Molly Dobson, thank YOU for sharing your little heart stories throughout the month of February! We are grateful for YOU – YOU fill the HEART of Ele’s Place Ann Arbor. ❤

❤ Molly Dobson – DONOR ❤

“In 1972, at age 21, our son Peter was killed on US-23. There was a knock on the door, the police said he was dead. He died instantly in a head-on collision. … Grieving was terrible. Bill said to me, “Molly I can’t talk about it, I don’t want to talk about it.” And, all your friends don’t know how to talk about it. They just feel ill-equipped to talk about it and don’t want to go there. And, there were no outside places to help.

“I just marvel at the meaningfulness of Ele’s Place Ann Arbor and the way you can mend wounds for families. … There wasn’t support when Peter Dobson was killed. There was nothing, except a class at WCC. But we need that help, nobody can mend by themselves. They need a family and when you can come to a place like Ele’s Place Ann Arbor, you’ll find that family that you can love and listen to. … It warms my heart that Ele’s Place is located in our own Ann Arbor community. They tenderly address the needs of individuals processing deep seated grief caused by the loss of a beloved family member or friend.” ❤

❤ Molly Dobson – DONOR ❤

In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Navy Women’s Reserve Act, creating what is commonly known as WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), a division of the U.S. Navy during WWII. Molly was commissioned a Naval Officer after graduation from the University of Michigan in 1944. She was sent to Washington DC and began her year and a half tour of duty encrypting and deciphering coded messages during the war. Thank you for your service, Molly Dobson!

Molly recently shared this treasured message with the Ele’s Place Ann Arbor staff, “Thank you for all the tender loving care y’all provide in our community. As a former Naval Officer, I salute you, one and all, for the job you’re doing in helping to mend broken hearts in our Ann Arbor community. It’s a job that needs doing, to be sure, and I’m so happy all of you are doing it in style and with the deepest of convictions!” ❤

❤ Molly Dobson – DONOR ❤

When asked about where her legacy of philanthropy, generosity and thinking about other people began, Molly responded, “I can think of one instance with my father. It was my 21st birthday, I was living at the Delta Gamma house [at University of Michigan], and [my parents] came to bring me a present and say hello. Here I was two months from graduation and my dad said to me, “Sis, what are you planning on doing?” I hadn’t thought much about it…I said well, maybe I’ll be a stewardess. Airplanes were big transportation at that time and looked very exciting and inviting, and it would be a traveling experience. This was 1944 mind you, we were deep in war on both coasts. And, my father said “Do you think that’s doing enough for your country?”

“And, there was a seed that was planted, you have an obligation to do more.” … “It’s been a privilege to be an Ann Arborite and learn what a nonprofit is, and to support programs that support people in need. Ele’s Place Ann Arbor is one of my favorite ones, and needs a lot of support.” ❤