Gastonia care program for special needs kids
A Gastonia church will have a program available to care for special needs children for three hours one Saturday per month starting in August.
This free program, called “Buddy Break,” will offer care from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on its operating days in the education building of Gastonia First Assembly. The program begins Aug. 6.
It is open to special needs kids — or VIP kids — aged 2 to 16 years old and their siblings if they are between 4 years old and fifth grade. Each VIP kid will be paired with a “buddy;” a volunteer screened and trained to provide special care.
“The biggest goal is to just serve these families who are underserved in our area,” said Jared Lilly, First Assembly’s children’s pastor.
During Buddy Break, VIP kids will spend time with each other, have access to children’s stories, videos, games and other activities. They hope that this will give parents and caregivers time for themselves while their children are in a safe environment.
Parents may sign up their children for Buddy Break by visiting the Buddy Break website. Before the launch date, Gastonia will be listed under “sites trained and coming soon.”
After the launch date, parents can click “Get a Break” on the homepage before choosing a primary location. They will then fill out a form and medical questionnaire. These forms only need to be filled out once, and the First Assembly will send the parent a message with the date of the next Buddy Break if the caregiver chooses to register their child again.
The idea for a special needs care program was brought up by Gastonia First Assembly special needs coordinator, Brandi Proffitt. Proffitt is the mother of a 7-year-old VIP kid and has found that there are not many resources for parents who have children that require specialized care.
Proffitt approached Lilly about wanting to serve families with special needs. Lilly had met the founder of the parent program for Buddy Break called Nathaniel’s Hope. Nathaniel's Hope is an Orlando-based outreach organization dedicated to sharing hope and encouragement with kids with special needs and their families.
“There’s a ton of VIP kids,” said Proffitt. She said there are eight to 10 VIP kids in her son’s school, Ida Rankin Elementary, while another school called Webb Street School is made up entirely of VIP kids aged 5-22.
“It’s hard to do everyday tasks sometimes, even grocery shopping, depending on the severity of your child’s disability,” she said.
Households that do not practice Christianity are also welcome to register their child for Buddy Break. “Your kid might hear about Jesus while they’re there, but there are no expectations or strings attached,” said Lilly.
Locations for Buddy Break programs are found in churches across the country. Gastonia First Assembly decided to partner with Nathaniel’s Hope to become one of these locations for people of Gaston County to have a nearby location.
Nathaniel’s Hope was founded by Tim and Marie Kuck in honor of their son, 4-year-old Nathaniel Timothy Kuck, who was born with multiple special needs before he passed away in 2001. The Kucks believe Nathaniel fulfilled his “purpose in life” by providing respite to VIP parents/caregivers and fun to VIP kids and their siblings.
The church funds Buddy Break from top to bottom. So far, all the money has been fundraised through their outreach. Last year’s outreach was their annual cruise-in, where attendance is free, but they raise money with the food that people can buy on site.
Lilly hopes that Buddy Break will make church more accessible to special needs families. “A lot of parents are scared to come to church if they have a VIP kid,” he said. “They don’t know if the church is equipped to handle the level of care their child requires.” To help these families attend Sunday service, the buddy team overlaps with the Sunday morning team so parents will know that the church can care for VIP kids.
Anyone over the age of 14 can apply to be a buddy with no previous experience. Buddies will have a criminal background check and train through a two-hour “Buddy Training 101” class on July 30 from 10 a.m. to noon.
The Gastonia First Assembly is located at 777 S. Myrtle School Road, Gastonia.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gastonia care program for special needs kids
