I stayed at New Beginnings solo for top surgery recovery from 9/6/18 to 9/14/18. LeLand and Bonnie were not there during my stay and did not inform me they would not be there. When I left I sent them an email with the pros and cons of my experience. Their response to my email was to call me to apologize, thank me for sharing and insisted that my feedback would be addressed and that Intern C had been fired. That response was refreshing to hear...until Bonnie said that the part of my email that "concerned" her the most was that I was going to share portions of the email as a review. I am going to repeat that. The part that "concerned" them the most was not the actions...or inactions...of the inexperienced interns they left to run their retreat. But that I was going to share my experience with others. Additionally, I received word that Intern C is still in the house. And, when I asked for a partial refund, because I did not feel I fully got all that I paid for, I was informed that they only charge for the room and the rest is volunteered service. When I replied that the website description of what is included in each price package has "nurse and therapist" as the first item. Their response was that they do not charge for that. They have since edited their website to remove "nurse and therapist available" as part of the "package". Overall, my impression is that they were telling me what they thought I wanted to hear on the phone so that I would not share my experience with others. Here are portions of the cons from my email. All names are changed. "They are all absolutely unqualified to be providing any sort of care or assistance to recovering surgery patients and anyone staying here without a friend or parent caregiver is taking a serious risk." "Intern C refuses to assist with the drains. At first, I thought it was because he did not know how to but later learned it is because he does not like to. This was a direct statement from him. Often, Intern C, who I learned has been here a week or so, is the only staff member in the house and spends a lot of time on the roof, making himself inaccessible to patients. His refusal to assist with drainage resulted in Mark's mom, myself, and other customers doing the milking and emptying of drains for other patients. Example, I woke up 9/13 to find Arthur sitting in the living room waiting for someone to come by to do his drains because Intern C wouldn't, it was Intern A's day off, and Intern B was asleep. It took me ten minutes to milk his right drain because the blood was so coagulated since no staff member had offered to help him or had checked in on him. Intern C could have at least offered to go get Intern B or Intern A. He also makes judgmental comments about patient's dietary choices." "Intern B. I appreciate her warm personality and she is by far the most attentive of the three. However, she does not wash her hands before touching the drains. She also did not assist me when I asked for help changing my shirt because she had "had a really long day" and "really wanted to go to bed soon." My shirt was already off from her checking my back. All helping me put on a shirt would have consisted of was pushing the recliner back to access the closet, pulling a shirt out, putting it over my shoulders, and pulling the recliner back. Would have taken less than 5 minutes. She would not do that because she wanted to go to sleep. Nor did she offer to ask another staff member to assist me." Intern A. I asked for four Tylenol's the evening of 9/12 after he assisted me with my right drain. He said "I'll get them for you right now. I'm running late for a meeting, but I'll be right back". 15-20 minutes pass. I send him a text saying "Is the Tylenol hiding" he sends me a text 6 minutes later saying "Crap. I'm sorry I had left already was running late, Intern C is present!". I called Intern C and he brought me the Tylenol pretty quickly. Intern A did not pass on to Intern C that I had asked for Tylenol, which he should have if he put "Patients First" or he should not have offered at all to be "right back" with the Tylenol. The afternoon of 9/13, when Intern B was taking me to my post-op appointment, she was very excited to tell me about the amazing night her and Intern A had the evening before (9/12). The meeting that took precedence over the delivery of pain medication and returning to close my door (I was immobile from the pain caused by milking the right drain, which Intern A had just assisted me with and was why I asked for a stockpile of Tylenol. Intern A was well aware I was immobile from the pain) was to meet up and go dancing with friends they met while vacationing in Costa Rica. All three of them, at some point in my stay, said that they were going to come back and check on me and then did not come back. I think LeLand and Bonnie made a misjudgment on who to leave in charge while going away. But their response to my experience does not seem genuine. read more

Hi all. My name is Keith and I'm FTM, 34 years old. My wife and I spent years saving up for top surgery and finally had what we wanted and headed on down to Florida to get top surgery done with Dr.Garramone. But the biggest worry for us wasn't the surgery itself, but the recovery. We were so worried about what we would do. Stay in a hotel in a strange state in an area we didn't know by ourselves? My wife would have to do everything on her own if we did that. And the idea of burdening her with taking care of my every need and doing food runs and driving me back and fourth to the surgeon and renting a car and navigating a strange area, all that while I was in pain and drunk on pain meds, made me worry. And what would the staff be like if we went to a hotel? Who knew if they were trans friendly, or how we would be treated. As anyone in the trans community might fear, we were worried about things like being kicked out of our room once they found out we were there for a gender confirmation surgery. Or if they let us stay, they might treat us badly. Then a miracle came along called New Beginnings! New Beginnings TLC is a non-profit, and offers a safe place for FTM people to recover safely. Run by Leland and Bonnie, this couple opens their home to all of the LGBTQ community and accepts surgery patients into their home. They have several volunteers that help them (and they need it!) With several rooms in the large Florida home, they accommodate several patients at a time. I was there with four other guys, all of us recovering in separate rooms during my 10 day stay. Let me tell you how amazing this place was! Leland has decades of healthcare experience and was a wealth of knowledge (although made certain to never give medical advice and was professional in telling me to call my surgeon if I had any concerns about medication and other such things.) And he was on the premises nearly at all times, day and night. He told my wife to come get him even if it was 3am in the morning if she was scared or if I was in pain. The volunteers were also amazing! They cooked us food, (Mallory made us soup and pie!), and cleaned up after us and provided more towels which we constantly needed since we were trying to wash my hair in the sink. They were kind and generous and I heard them popping into rooms frequently to check on patients, especially the single guys with no one there to help them. They made sure guys were taking their pain meds, that they were eating, helped with nausea, made us tea! We never had to rent a car or worry about navigating. They drove us to and from the airport, to and from doctors appointments and to and from surgery on surgery day. All for no extra charge! They talked to me and eased my fears the day before surgery. And the day after when I was in so much pain, the whole staff was there, rallying around me to assure me I would get through it. There is nothing like New Beginnings anywhere else on earth. Nothing could have been as wonderful as this experience was, and that's saying a LOT since I was in miserable pain the first several days after surgery. Being surrounded by other trans people who had been through what I'd been through, was priceless. And being around other FTM guys who were going through the same exact thing as me created bonds that I will never forget. Guys, this is a non-profit. Leland and Bonnie don't make a lot (if any) money doing this. They opened their home to us out of the kindness of their hearts, because they wanted to. Because they wanted to help the trans community. And all the volunteers who work there are just that: volunteers. They have other jobs to support themselves, and then come to New Beginnings after and before their jobs just to take care of surgery patients. Everything they do they do out of the goodness that's within them. And it shows! I felt it the moment they picked me up from the airport and I was scared as hell to be taking such a big step. As soon as I got in their mini-van I knew I made the right choice. I felt like I'd come home. I highly, strongly, instantly recommend. ~Keith Atlanta, GA read more

It took me a while to finally decide to write a review, simply because I don't like giving bad reviews and I was also in shock of how someone in the community could do this. I stayed here after my top surgery, as dr. sassani recommended and I could not be more disappointed. Honestly, I would have been better off at an Air BnB and would have saved a TON of money that I could have used to order ubereats or something. Do yourself a favor, and DO NOT stay here. You cannot go by yourself as they claim, I had to have someone come help me because they didn't offer do ANYTHING for me, and when they did, it was because I had to go ask, then they would take a while and when they finally came the way they responded made me feel as if I was a burden, they did not seem happy to help. Thy are focused on getting the shores done in the house and going to their room or wherever they go. I was not able to cook and although they offer free food that is donated to them (from which they take first picks and put their names on it, and then u get whatever is left), they do not help you cook. I had a horrible experience and this is just to name a few things that happened. read more