Callaway County Special Services is the local SB40 board in Fulton. It’s a tax-supported program that provides services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Executive director Mike Lederle spoke with Emery Jones, the director of day services at the Life Enrichment Center about their individuals — who range in age from 18 to nearly 80.
For the month of May we’re focusing on the health of those living in Fulton and Callaway County.
Emery Jones: Our program is very community-centered, very community-based. We're very active. We go out a lot; we do a lot of outings.
We receive a lot of funding through our community and through the levy, and so, we really find it important to give back to those who give to us. So, we do a lot of volunteering.
Our individuals volunteer about an average of about 80 hours a week, or I'm sorry, a month. We deliver two Meals on Wheels routes, one in Holt Summit and New Bloomfield and one at Fulton.
Last year alone, they volunteered 925 hours in the community. That's amazing.Executive Director Mike Lederle, Callaway County Special Services
And that is not our staff, that is our individuals that are work with our program – they go out, they deliver the meals, they package the food. So, they are very active, and they love to give back to their community.
We really find it important to have them be part of their community. We love for them to get to know other community members, build natural supports. That's our main goal.
So, we do a lot of things that they enjoy: bowling, the movies, we go mini golfing, we go to the library. We love when we see people that we know, and that they know, and we love for people to say hello to us.
And we also bring a lot of people onto our sites, as well, and do different activities like yoga or crafts. We have a couple music groups that come in.
We work very closely with case management and the families and the guardians and the individual, and we go based off a person-centered support plan that we follow and create goals and work on things like life skills, healthy relationship skills, internet safety, hygiene skills.
Just whatever the team feels is necessary for that individual is what we're going to support them in.
Mike Lederle: Just to put an exclamation on it – last year alone, they volunteered 925 hours in the community. That's amazing.
They love – well, they just love giving back, and just it's about purpose, and they love having a purpose. Just like any of us.
If you had to sit at home looking at the four same walls every day and nothing to do, just imagine how boring that would be, and just think about depression.
And so, by having some place to go, something to do, something to learn – it's just going to be better for you as an individual.
I'll break it down even simpler. All of us on here want to live our best life, right? That's everybody.
So, let's help them live their best life. Period. Look at the person in front of us. They want the same thing – live their best life – they just may need additional supports to do that. And that's our goal.
