Parents provide special solution for special problem
Staff writer
When special-needs students graduate, many of the programs, activities, and daily routines that helped structure their lives come to an end. For a group of Marion County parents, that reality raised a troubling question: What happens next?
Rather than wait for an answer, they decided to begin creating one themselves.
Over the past several months, a small group of parents has organized bowling nights, adaptive sports activities, fitness sessions, and swimming opportunities for special-needs adults throughout Marion County.
Their goal is simple: provide opportunities for social connection, physical activity, and continued personal growth in a community where such options can be difficult to find.
“I think we finally have a group of really active moms who want to see something happen,” parent and organizer Anita Unruh said.
Many of the parents involved became connected through Tabor College’s Project Search program, which helps young adults with disabilities develop workplace and life skills through internships and job training.
After their children completed the program, conversations among families increasingly turned toward life after graduation.
“Our kids can’t maybe hold jobs,” Unruh said. “They can maybe volunteer a few hours a week, or they can work a few hours a week, but they need something to do to stay connected with each other and a social outing and something that provides them with a little bit of physical activity, too.”
What the parents discovered was a lack of opportunities close to home.
“I think in the past there has not been anything for them,” Unruh said. “There just isn’t anything for them.”
That realization led to action.
The group’s first major undertaking was a monthly adaptive bowling night at Gutterball in Hillsboro.
Sponsors have covered the cost, allowing special-needs individuals ages 16 and older to participate free of charge.
The event typically attracts between 12 and 20 participants, though Unruh said the number reached is larger because attendance varies from month to month.
Encouraged by the response, parents expanded the effort this summer. Activities have included adaptive kickball at Hillsboro Memorial Park, a fitness session led by Anna Woods, and a water exercise program at the Dolores Dalke Family Aquatic Center.
While the activities themselves differ, Unruh said, they all serve the same purpose.
“It’s mostly for social encounters,” Unruh said. “It’s also an opportunity where they can maybe learn some skills.”
For many participants, maintaining those skills is critical.
“I think it just is like anything else,” Unruh said. “Any skill that you don’t keep up, you lose.”
Without opportunities to remain engaged after leaving school, she said, special-needs adults can quickly become isolated.
“They lose motivation. They lose their skills,” Unruh said. “They lose their sense of self-value when they have nowhere to go and nothing to do.”
The issue affects families as well.
“A lot of us with kids who aren’t in school anymore, we’re providing care 24/7,” Unruh said. “For them to have an hour or two to get out and be with other people where we know they’re in good hands, it provides just a lot of stress relief for families.”
Unruh thinks many people are unaware how limited services and opportunities can become after students leave the school system.
“I think people think that the government cares for these people, but they don’t realize that it takes people to do those things,” she said.
That is why the effort to keep special-needs adults active is viewed as more than a series of activities by their parents. They hope it sparks broader community involvement and awareness.
Businesses already have helped by sponsoring bowling nights, but there are many other ways residents can contribute, Unruh said. Volunteers with skills ranging from cooking and crafts to fitness and recreation could help create future activities and learning opportunities.
For now, the focus remains on building opportunities one event at a time. But Unruh and others hope the growing interest demonstrates both the need and the willingness within the community to address it.
“The only way it’s going to happen is if a few people make it happen,” Unruh said.
Anyone interested in helping or learning more about upcoming activities may contact Unruh at (620) 382-6894 or Anna Woods at (620) 877-7503.