A ministry birthed in Alabama out of a need for a family to find friends, activities, the list is endless, for their own adult son with Intellectual DisABILITIES. Respite was provided to families caring for their older teens and adult child(ren), who live at home, with special needs. Family and other primary caretakers endlessly give of themselves by caring for their child with disabilities with love, energy, and dedication. Hope and Friendship Center wants families to continue to be filled with love and energy without getting burned out. We recognize and understand the need for a well-deserved break. Taking a much needed break will allow the family to have time to take care of just themselves while their older teen or adult child is entrusted into the love and care of Hope and Friendship Center. Friendships will be planted, begin to grow, and eventually become life long friends with like peers with opportunities to interact with non-disabled peers who will role model appropriate behavior and interactions. Our #1 goal is to provide an environment where families will know their child is well taken care of in a safe and Christian atmosphere.
#2 goal is to have a blast with some good clean fun - activities will vary in order to meet the needs of each of the friends. Field trips, community events, and life skills training will be a big part of our program. Attending functions, parties, going to a restaurant, attending the movies, etc. Special scheduling will be provided to those friends who require 1:1 supervision or in the case of family emergencies. The success of our program will be dependent on volunteers, monetary gifts, sponsorships, and fundraising events in order to provide high quality respite care at an affordable cost, if any, for families. As God provides we plan to expand our respite program to a day program, teaching various occupational skills and social skills, job interviewing skills, etc. Providing instruction at an early age is crucial to provide the best foundation for each special child. That will also be another area we would like to grow into which can have a great impact on the child's development, speech.
