SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
Sometimes a legacy has a tune, a song carried from generation to generation. For the Gauthier/Streng family, honoring their mother’s memory meant carrying on her care for children at DABSJ.
Mary Anne “Maude” Gauthier Streng brought energy and heart to her time at what was then St. John’s Home (now DABSJ’s Residential Treatment program). She tutored children, helped with schoolwork, and taught kids to read. She was deeply proud of her students.
The commitment to children ran in her family. Maude’s mother, Marion Debree, was a social worker known for being a tenacious networker, bringing organizations together to help neglected children in Kent County. Advocacy was not abstract in their family. It was lived out.
“It was definitely like mother, like daughter,” Dick Gauthier said of his mom and grandmother, smiling.
After Maude passed away in 2005, her husband and children wanted to honor her spirit and her care for children. They created the Maude Fund as an endowment to provide lasting support for youth served by DABSJ.
Over time, the fund found its focus in something that felt especially fitting: music.
“We’re a musical family,” said son Dan Gauthier. “That’s where we got it all — from Maude.”
Today, the Maude Fund supports music education and experiences for children and teens at DABSJ, including a recent hip hop workshop. For young people who have experienced trauma, music can offer confidence, expression, and a sense of belonging.
Through the Maude Fund, and with partners like you, this family’s legacy of care continues to play on.
