By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
PERRYSBURG—Dr. Mirela Mihaly often dreamed of visiting the United States from Romania, where she grew up. She never imagined her dream would come true.
When she visited Perrysburg earlier this month, the trip meant even more to her than just being able to visit the U.S.
“I get the chance to meet the people behind the story that shaped my life,” she told members of the Perrysburg Rotary Club. “I have the privilege of sharing with you what your kindness has made possible.”
The young girl grew up in a broken home in a small Romanian village. Her childhood was marked by instability, addiction and emotional hardship. Her parents struggled with alcohol, and by the time she was 11 years old, she was working.
“I had no sense of safety, identity or hope for a better future,” she said.
Her life changed when she was 14 years old, when a woman from her church and a local pastor helped her find a home at the Deborah House in Timisoara, Romania.
“I didn’t know then that the Deborah House would become the place where I would heal, grow and truly begin to live,” she said. “I also didn’t know that your Rotary Club from Perrysburg, Ohio, would become part of my story.”
Perrysburg Rotary’s early involvement in the Deborah House
Perrysburg Rotary got involved with the Deborah House, a home for abused girls, in the early 2000s after club member and architect Jeff Normand visited Romania with one of his clients. She wanted him to visit the country with her to possibly design a place for girls, because there was nothing for girls who had been abused or trafficked in Romania,” Normand explained.
When he met some of the young girls who needed assistance, he said, “They hooked me.” He did help design the Deborah House, and in 2004, he shared with his Perrysburg club some of the needs of the girls who, at the time, ranged from seven to 14 years old.
The club immediately got on board and partnered with two Romanian Rotary clubs to help the girls. Using the Perrysburg club’s first Rotary International Grant, the funds provided food for a year and the purchase of a passenger van to transport the girls to school.
Since their involvement began, there have been five local Rotary, District Rotary and Rotary International grants to help build greenhouses, drill an irrigation well, plant a fruit tree orchard, purchase computers and internet equipment.
The most recent grant from the Perrysburg club, “literally kept the Deborah House open,” Normand said. The Romanian government threatened to shut down the house unless the sanitary plumbing systems were upgraded.
“I mentioned it to the Perrysburg Rotary, and in a week and a half, we had the money,” he said. Their $25,000 donation ensured the house stayed open.
Overall, the club has contributed $100,000 to support the Deborah House. Many members have traveled to Romania to oversee the grants and offer help. Several individual club members and their businesses have also supported the house through donations and in-kind contributions.
“You didn’t know who I was or what I was going through, but you got involved and believed in the mission of the Deborah House,” said Mihaly. “You invested in more than a building or a garden. You invested in lives, including mine.”
She spent her high school years in the Deborah House, doing her homework at a desk that looked out over the orchard and greenhouses. “I remember watching the orchard every season and, in spring, the leaves would burst open and eventually the fruit would appear,” she said.
“I was like those trees. I had once felt empty, with bare branches and no direction and no hope. But in that place, with the love of God and the care of people around me, something began to grow. I started to blossom. And I found joy, identity and purpose.”
When Mihaly was admitted to medical school, she was overwhelmed, not because she had done it on her own, but because so many others had made it possible.
Today, she is in her final year of residency in internal medicine at a university hospital in Romania. She volunteers for a senior center, children’s homes and a woman’s prison because “I know what it means to be seen, to be remembered, and to be given a chance,” she said.
“It’s great to see that we have that reach out internationally and it’s not just about making our community better but making the world a better place and to help people and see success like that.,” said Perrysburg Rotary Club President Bill Bohney. “Hearing her story really drives that passion to continue making a difference. Jeff Normand’s courage, compassion and leadership have helped all of us in Perrysburg Rotary discover the spirit of Rotary.”
“The orchards your hands helped plant and all the other support have transformed season by season for me and so many others,” Mihaly said. “I don’t have enough words to say thank you, but my words of gratitude are not just mine, but of hundreds of girls who grew up at the house.”
