Faith in Action: Polk ministry helps adults with disabilities gain independence
LAKE WALES, Fla. - After high school, adults with special needs don't always get the support they need to keep growing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for people with a disability is about twice as high as those with no disability.
A Polk County ministry is working to change that, offering an encouraging place to keep learning, to gain job and life skills, grow friendships and most importantly find independence.
FOX 13 stopped by the Circle of Friends Ministry in Lake Wales on a Thursday for its "performing arts day." Students were busy rehearsing choreography for an upcoming performance that will honor service members.
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"It's beautiful and it's fun and makes me feel good and thankful for our freedom," said student Lynette Brown.
Meanwhile, down the hall, students were painting peaches paired with uplifting words.
"Bless this home and all who enter," said one student, reading her art.
For these students, this building is a home away from home.
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"Faith has been the foundation of Circle of Friends," said the ministry's CEO Crystal Higbee.
The non-profit was founded in the 90s by Mertice Fehringer, whose daughter Connie had special needs. It's grown from a Sunday school classroom to a day program that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as their families, helping students transition from high school to independent adult life.
"We're going to equip them with the skills needed to live a more independent life," Higbee said. "We're going to empower them to use those skills by advocating for them and in the community with employers, with their families. And we're going to provide inclusion through activities."
Each day looks different.
"Every morning, we do devotion," Higbee said. "Culinary is on Wednesday, art is on Tuesday, performing arts on Thursday. Friday is usually Fun Friday. We do trips to the Florida Aquarium; we do trips to Orlando Science Center."
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Games like bingo teach life lessons about dollars and change – money they hope to someday count from their own paychecks to pay their own bills.
"We try to do everything here with a fun spin on it, because it helps them retain their information a whole lot better," Higbee said.
They currently have about 30 students enrolled with space for up to 50. Independence looks different from one person to the next.
"One independence may be working at Publix and living in an apartment with a friend while another's independence is maybe helping mom with dishes or laundry, just stepping up a notch to help mom relax a little bit at home," Higbee said.
Brown, who enrolled with the ministry in 2004, said she's learned money, cooking and home skills.
"I used to be so bored with nothing to do," Lynette Brown said.
She has a whole list of goals like learning to drive and getting married. But her biggest?
"I want to be a lawyer," Brown said. "I thank God that he put that dream in my life. Keep your head up. Don't give up. Show people what you can do."
Higbee has big goals, too. First, raise $1.1 million to buy the building they just moved into. Second – that's the really exciting part – develop land for a supportive living, affordable housing community.
"What it would mean is that 20 of our students would immediately have a place to go, and their parents would have peace of mind that when they pass away that their child is going to have a place to live forever," Higbee said.
They'll have access to advocates, skill building, and most important, a permanent community that is desperately needed.
"They can't get kicked out. It's a place of their own, a community of their own," Higbee said.
Students like Brown cannot wait to move in.
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"In my dream, I want to afford to be independent and hang out with my friends," Brown said. "I just want them to look at us saying, wow, they did it."
Here, it's not just a circle of friends. It's a whole family.
"I won't be satisfied until they're laying their head on their pillows in their own homes where it is secure for the rest of their life," Higbee said. "And I can look their parent in the eye and say, you can have peace now."
Much of Circle of Friends' ministry is supported by grants and fundraising events like the Denim & Diamonds Gala coming up on November 4. If you'd like to learn more about what they do or have students perform at an upcoming event, you can find them at www.circleoffriendsministry.com.
Do you know someone who's living out their faith and using it to make a positive impact? We are looking for "Faith in Action" all around the Tampa Bay area. Just send an email to Haley.Hinds@Fox.com.