Occasionally, through hard work, determination, blind luck or a combination of all three, someone's fondest dream will actually come true. On March 30, the Southside Baptist Association and Virginia Baptist Children's Home & Family Services celebrated the completion of a new home for special needs adults that made the dreams of an entire community come true.
In recent years, a number of families of adults with developmental disabilities came together to lend each other support. As discussions of the inevitable future when they would no longer be physically able to provide the care their loved ones need progressed, they searched for potential answers. Those answers were provided by the Developmental Disabilities Ministry of Virginia Baptist Children's Home & Family Services.
Established in 1992, DDM has quickly become one of Virginia's premiere sources of care for special needs adults. With group homes in Abingdon, Salem, Martinsville, Richmond and Fredericksburg, this branch of the Children's Home possessed the expertise and availability families needed. The families possessed the dedication to their mission which the Children's Home sought in partners. Fundraising for the Southside Home began in early 2002 and received a huge boost when Heritage Baptist Church in Farmville donated two acres of land to the project. Contributors soon began pouring financial and material resources in. Now, roughly two years ahead of schedule, the Southside Home is ready for occupation.
“This is absolutely the best day of the world,” said Hazel Harrison, co-chair of the Southside Association Special Needs Committee. “It is the day that we have looked forward to for so many years! I didn't realize it was going to come as fast as it did, but it only came this fast because of the generosity and commitment of this community and the people involved in this partnership. God has answered every prayer. He has been overly, overly, overly blessing us every day. There is no way that any of us could have done this without God's guidance.”
Clyde Shelton, the other co-chair of the Special Needs Committee, agreed.
“This has been the most remarkable thing I have ever been associated with,” said Shelton, pastor of Bagby Memorial Baptist Church in Burkeville. “I am grateful to many, many people for what they have done and also thankful to God. I think this has had to be a religious experience for many of these people. They believe that the Lord has been with us. I think all this happened because initially we were able to make a very good case for the need for the Home in the area. Then, once we had several people to make some gifts, it just seemed to be contagious and then churches were doing all kinds of events.”
In cooperation with Virginia Baptist Children's Home & Family Services, which operates 11 other homes for special needs adults across Virginia, the Southside Committee broke ground on the home in September 2004. Since then, a miraculous procession of volunteers and contributors have worked together to transform the project from dream to reality. Dozens of churches and organizations and hundreds of volunteers have contributed their time and energy to transforming the dream of a home giving personalized care into a 5,000-square-foot facility that will house up to seven men who need special attention to meet their needs.
While appreciation was expressed for the many churches and individuals who volunteered their time, talents and resources to build the Home, volunteer carpenter Ernest McCormick was recognized by the Knights of Columbus for his exceptional dedication to assisting with all phases of the Home's construction. McCormick says he learned of the Southside Home from Shelton and since the Nottoway County Habitat for Humanity project he normally assisted with was on hiatus, he decided to lend his hammer to the Southside Association. He didn't miss a day of construction in 17 months.
“I used to like to go fishing and hunting and play a little golf,” McCormick said. “In the last eight or nine years I haven't done any of the three. I go somewhere I can use the hammer and nails and try to do some good for somebody. I just started thinking one day how good the Lord had been to me and I wanted to give something back.”
KOVAR, the charitable arm of the Knights of Columbus, lent a great deal of assistance to the Home's construction as well. They accepted the committee's application for funding and provided nearly $20,000 to the project.
“For a lot of us on the board of directors, our own children, sisters, brothers, cousins, have Down's Syndrome or are diagnosed mentally retarded, said Arthur Caroll, president of KOVAR. “We have seen, through our own eyes, the waiting lists, the lack of services and everything else. We know that there is a need, so we are very passionate and dedicated about raising the funds and doing the job.”
Efforts are now underway to review applications for residents and staff. The Children's Home administration expects the home to begin accepting residents around mid-May. For more information about the Southside Home of the Developmental Disabilities Ministry, call (540) 387-5024.