Meet the Child Care Council Staff

Introducing Mary G.

Belinda @ Kids Matter

Mary is an Eligibility Specialist for the CCC and has been in the child care assistance business for seven and a half years. She respectfully serves the counties of Ohio, Butler, and Muhlenberg. Mary is such a wonderful people person who enjoys time spent with clients. She has a smile that lights even the darkest of rooms. She is the most caring, loving, person with a delightful bubbly personality and is always there to lend a helping hand.

Mary has been married to her sweetheart, Jody, for twenty-three years and falls in love with him more each day. She refers to him as her rock saying, “He works so hard to provide and be there for each of us.” Mary and Jody have four beautiful children, two boys and two girls, and also a handsome four year old grandson. She has also taken in another child, who she loves with all her heart, just as if she were her own. They also have a Labrador who she says is, “spunky and a crazy beast.” But, the dog loves them unconditionally and that’s the best kind of love.

Mary is deeply rooted in family unity, which she attributes to her mother. She says, “Mom is the most caring, unselfish person I know. She isn’t one to just say she is there, she actually is there.” Mary carries that over into her own family. She loves her family with great passion and considers them her greatest accomplishment in life. She enjoys every minute they spend together. Her family takes fantastic vacations. She conveyed a story of one particular fun and exciting adventure at Jelly Stone Campground, near Mammoth Cave. “It was October and there was so much for the children to do such as Halloween costume contests, hayrides, campground songs, picking and painting pumpkins, trick-or-treating, decorating camp sites, and even a haunted woods.” She was very excited as she described the fun they had.  The whole family enjoyed themselves and, believe it or not, there was not one single electronic device to be found. They went unplugged the whole weekend which, Mary says, “allowed them to spend time getting to really know each other”.

Having a large family can present challenges, and she tackles them head on. She describes her idea of a perfect day as being home ALONE cleaning the house. Her motivation in everything that she does is her family. She states, “I want them to be their best and I hope someday they come to realize I did my best to raise them into bright, sincere, caring, loving, thoughtful individuals who are never afraid to go after what they want.”

When asked about advice for raising a family she said, “Surround yourself with people who have the same goals and expectations.” Those people will be the community helping to raise your child. She’s a firm believer in picking your battles and often tells her children to, “Pick one you will win”. We aren’t meant to win every argument and sometimes it’s really not worth the time spent being angry. Her greatest advice is to take time and listen to what your children are saying. “Put down the remote, iPad, cellphone, or whatever gadget you’re connected to and truly spend time listening to them.” Mary is so family oriented that even her hobbies involve spending time with her children. She is a wonderful and devoted mom whose children love her immensely.  Her time is so packed with work, children’s sports, maintaining the household, church functions, and helping everyone that needs her that, if she were granted one super-human power, she would choose, “not to sleep”. She laughs as she says, “There is not enough time in the day.”