A spring has created a College for Living
program that has geared towards young
adults with developmental disabilities,
and it's helping those who have a
drive to live independently someday.
Coming up a bit later this month,
you can learn a little bit
more during their preview day.
Joining me now with more on this is
CEO Lauren Hayes and Shelby Mauser,
who's been busy planning that preview day.
Ladies, happy Friday and thanks for
being here today. Thanks for having us.
We made it.
I mean, let's talk a little bit about
the great work that you're doing,
because I think there's so many families
across Kentucky that are seeking a place
where their loved ones can grow and prosper.
We want them to live independently.
Lauren, for those that may not
be familiar with Dayspring,
kind of cover all the all the
great things you guys do,
all the things.
Well,
Dayspring really started from a family
who had a child with intellectual
and developmental disabilities and
they wanted a longterm home for them.
Their child was going to outlive
them one day and so Dayspring
sprung up as a place of hope,
a beacon of hope in our community.
So we do provide residential services 24/7.
We have six different locations and
then a whole bunch of family home
providers scattered across the state.
But one thing that really sets us apart
from other agencies is a one-of-a-kind
program that we have called the
College for Living and it's fairly new,
just started in 2017 because we
did see there is such a need,
not only in our community and
surrounding counties and across the
state for a program that really,
really targets developing life skills.
In adults with disabilities who are
just on the cusp of independence
and need a little bit more support.
And if you think about it,
they get a lot of support when they're
in the high school programs and an early
intervention all the way through age 18.
And after that,
there's not a whole lot.
We've got a lot of thousands, in fact,
who are on the waiting list to get the
supports for Community Living Waiver.
Some will never get it in their lifetime.
And so for Dayspring,
being a tuition based program at college
for living in particular provides
them a very affordable option to
experience college when they otherwise
may not be able to experience college.
Lauren,
I feel like these are skills.
All of our college kids,
I can think of plenty that right?
Like this is that's a gap.
I think in education in general
is teaching these life skills.
But again I just think of the
joy and the pride,
the families and the and the kids that
go through it must feel and knowing.
I learned to do this on my own,
right.
Like I just feel like that is I
can't even put into words how how
rewarding that must be for them.
Well, I love it because we brought
Shelby on a few months ago and
she just hit the ground running.
Developing this program.
So the program has a residential component.
We have six one bedroom apartments.
Their apartments are nicer than any
of our first apartments, right.
OK. And they have a kind of a dorm
like living arrangement here.
6 apartments opens up to a laundry room.
And so we're trying to teach
them life skills that we learn.
Incidentally, it could be, you know.
Financial budgeting, budgeting,
going to the grocery store and budgeting,
laundry, everything that you think you
need to know when you go live on your own.
And that's what Shelby's trying
to teach them.
And we want to share it with the community.
And you're offering this preview
day for folks to kind of get a
chance to go check out to see,
does this fit for my family?
So kind of take us inside what what can
we experience if we go to preview day?
Yeah.
So next Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM,
you can come and tour our campus,
hear testimonials from our
families and our students.
Hear from people that have built
the program from the ground up and
they get to experience a life skills
class for themselves to experience
everything that we have to offer
there, right. It must have been really
rewarding for you to take a step
back and think how do I plan this
like what's missing that people need.
So what was that like for you to
kind of go inside and and what have
you even probably appreciated more
about being a part of Dayspring.
So I think the College for Living
program is obviously
super unique and you know.
Serves a bunch of great people,
and I wanted to serve more people in
the community, and I thought that
this would be a great way to introduce
ourselves to the community as well.
So our residential program is full right now,
but we want to open it up to people
that can just commute to the program.
So we're starting this commuter
program where they can pick how many
classes that they want a month.
And decide which classes that
they need the most.
Wonderful.
I know it brings a smile to my face.
Looking at these videos,
you see their independence
and you see their happiness.
I know I see you smiling.
The goal is really excited because one
of our students is actually going to
be graduating our very first graduate.
Yeah. And so the goal over, you know,
it's a four to eight-year program.
We make sure that they reach
confidence and living independently.
And then we help them.
Shelby is going and and showing
them apartments and trying to help
them transition into their own
independent apartment in the community.
And so we want to break those barriers,
tell families that there are
options even if they're not ready
for their child to leave home.
We're never they can come to these
commuter classes and at least
develop a peer group and learn
some of those life skills too.
Love that.
So the once again the preview day is.
Next Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00,
one to 4:00 PM.
Ladies,
thank you so much for stepping
onto our great Day Live stage
here and and telling us all
about this wonderful program.
So if you want to go to the preview day,
maybe you just want to learn
more information,
Take a tour of everything that
Dayspring has to offer.
Just go to
dayspringky.org.