After the birth of the LaHood’s first child, Cubby wanted to stay home with their baby and decided to establish a home-based 

day care business. The first client was a family with a disabled child. Very quickly, other families with disabled children learned 

that there was someone willing to take on the formidable task of caring for a special needs child. Families with disabled children 

who were having a difficult time finding day care called, and soon Cubby had several more disabled children in her care. 

In 1983, her work officially became St. Joseph’s House.

In 1988, when the LaHoods were expecting their second child, they learned the baby had medical complications that were so 

extensive he likely would not live. Shortly after baby Francis’s birth and death, Dan decided to leave his job in the health care 

industry and stay home with Cubby to care for these special children. They realized that their son, had he lived, could have been 

just like the precious children whom they were caring for each day. Their devotion to their mission was solidified.

The LaHoods moved from Kensington, Maryland  to the Forest Glen neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland  in 1995. 

St. Joseph’s House sits on a corner lot on a quiet street. It looks just like any other home until one notices the long wheelchair 

ramp that attaches to the addition on the back of the house. The small wooden sign identifying St. Joseph’s House is in keeping 

with the calm simplicity that characterizes this organization.

Although they go about their work quietly and never seek notice, reward, or recognition for what they do, Cubby was honored 

for her work in 1995 by being named a Washingtonian Magazine “Washingtonian of the Year.” According to the magazine, it’s 

the “highest honor we bestow in our community to the people who make it a better place to live.”

Truly, St. Joseph’s House is making our community a better place to live.