LITTLE ROCK — You don’t realize how much you take for granted until you see a group of preschoolers hunting Easter eggs for the first time. Or a 60-year-old couple getting to attend their first prom.
As its mission statement says, the central Arkansas based Arkansas Enterprises for the Developmentally Disabled is dedicated to “empowering individuals with disabilities to improve the quality of their lives.”
That includes not only providing a preschool for children up to age 5 and a skills training program for adults, but also special experiences and a sense of independence and self-worth for the individuals - called“consumers” - who make use of their services.
And now, the organization wants to branch out even further into the community.
They have plans to convert a recently donated church into a training center. Its primary function will be to help parents of developmentally disabled children, but it will also be open to the community at large.
“It’s a community outreach and resource for anybody who has a disability or knows someone with a disability,” says Debbie Grooms, development coordinator of the organization.
Currently, the building is in a state of disrepair.
“It’s going to need a lot of work to get it up and running,” Arkansas Enterprises for the Developmentally Disabled Auxiliary member Gayla Jungmeyer says.
That new resource center is the focus of the Curtain Call for a Cause, the auxiliary’s spring fundraiser.
This is only the second year for the celebration, which Grooms, event Chairman Jungmeyer and auxiliary Chairman Carol Slattery all describe as a unique fundraiser.
Jungmeyer explains, “Debbie and I were brainstorming for a little more upscale fundraiser.”
What emerged was an event that combines an auction and dinner with a Broadway-style variety show.
“That, to our knowledge, had never been done,” Jungmeyer says.
“It’s not your typical fundraiser where you have the live and silent auction and you have a dance and finger food,” Slattery says. “It’s dinner theater. Totally different.”
There is a small silent auction of items donated by artisans and, this year, paintings done by the organization’s adult clients; Slattery, in particular, is thrilled with the response so far.
“We’re getting calls from people wanting to donate auction items. I’ve been on plenty of fundraisers. Usually you’re begging people for stuff. People are really wanting to give to us.”
The meal, by Catering to You, is of the sit-down variety, and those who buy VIP tickets will have access to a private bar and menu.
But the highlight is the theatrical production on the stage of the Argenta Community Theater in North Little Rock.
Jungmeyer’s neighbor, theater co-founder and Arkansas Enterprises for the Developmentally Disabled supporter Vince Insalaco, volunteered to spearhead the performance, lining up the talent for the show, which this year will include dances, songs and dramatic scenes.
“It is a community theater so we use local talent,” Jungmeyer says.
Arkansas Festival Ballet,Mary Katelin Ward, Matt Morley, and Dancing Buddies are among those scheduled to take part.
They will also screen a video, Faces of Children, about the organization.
Last year’s event sold out, and they’re expecting more of the same this year, hoping to exceed their goal of $25,000.
“I had so many positive comments last year from people as they were going out,” Grooms says.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to increase awareness and support for the organization.
At the Sammie Gail Sanders Children’s Learning Center, they provide therapy and day care for children up to age 5 with a wide variety of disorders and delays.
As Grooms says, “We have children who can walk and play and some who can’t. Some take a lot more one-on one care than others. We’re able to provide that individualized care.”
About 90 percent of the children in the program live below the poverty level. Roughly 10 percent of the children have parents who have disabilities themselves.
Individual and group sponsorships of classrooms are important to keeping the center functioning.
“It takes about $2,500 per year to buy just the minimum,” Grooms says.
Some children may have a developmental delay that, after some time at the center, is completely corrected. Others need lifelong or more long term care, and they may stay until they’re 5 years old and the public schools take over.
Consumers may return to the organization at age 18, where, as adults, they’re given training and jobs at the Lacy Landers Skills Training Center.
“Something that would take you and me 30 minutes to do might take them an hour and a half but yet they’ve got something that makes them feel good about themselves,” Slattery says.
In addition to the therapy and skills, the agency and its auxiliary work to provide special experiences for the consumers with monthly special events such as luaus and Christmas parties.
“Their favorite is the prom,” Jungmeyer says. “We even had a couple in their 60s come and they’d never been to a prom.”
Slattery adds, “That’s what really got to me. These things they’d never have the opportunity to do if it wasn’t for this organization.”
The special events are hosted in the agency’s new multipurpose center, a large space that’s also available for rental and provides another source of income.
This year the organization earned the nonprofit Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International certification for the first time.
To Slattery, that sort of recognition only further validates an organization that provides a vital service.
“I just really strongly believe we need to give these individuals a chance in life. It’s amazing what those that run the organization have done for these people. If you were ever to go on a tour, it would just touch your heart.”
“They come up and hug you and they don’t even know who you are,” Grooms says. “They feel like they’ve been your friend forever.” Curtain Call for a Cause will be6-9 p.m. June 5 at the Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock. Tickets are $100, $150 for VIP. Call (501) 801-3646 or visit aeddinc.org.
High Profile, Pages 35 on 05/27/2012