Seeking support: Nonprofit raising funds to provide location to restore IDD services locally

Restoring and providing a centralized home for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) services has been the goal of Dennis and Andy Heath since January. After connecting with The Arc of Wichita Falls, the two established a nonprofit and are fundraising to provide a location for the organization to offer and expand IDD services.

Helen Farabee Centers recently closed its IDD Provider Services Division due to it no longer being financially sustainable. With its closure, many Young County IDD clients that utilized the Day Habilitation services were impacted.

“IDD individuals in Graham had suffered a loss of services over the years because less people were qualifying to go to Helen Farabee for services, specifically Day Hab (Day Habilitation),” Dennis Heath said. “We found out in January that Day Hab would be closing and that they would no longer be able to meet together, interact with one another, do community outings, have social events (and) get out of the house so their parents could work. It had always been a very active group in Graham for many decades.”

After the Heaths discovered that the service was being closed they immediately got to work finding a way to bring a new organization to Young County. They connected with The Arc of Wichita Falls, which had already been looking to establish a location in Graham and wanted to offer services locally.

“The Arc is willing to provide services to those persons, find them private pay at a very low daily rate, or find individuals who can provide scholarships for these people who cannot afford to pay for a daily rate and still (fill in for) the need,” Dennis Heath said. “That’s the thing about The Arc, they’re there to provide services for where there’s a need.”

For the Heaths it was a duty to help their special needs friends that they had connected with through their daughter, who utilized Day Habilitation services.

“Our daughter is 39 years old. She’s the most wonderful person. Everybody that knows her loves her and she’s a great person, but she needs that stimulation of being with her friends and so that was a big impetus for us pursuing this also,” Dennis Heath said.

The Arc of Wichita Falls Executive Director Anthony Watkins said the organization provides programs and services that enable and empower adults and children with disabilities as well as their families. He said a Day Habilitation program is something necessary for communities like Graham.

“Individuals that aged out of high school that sit at home that might not get a job or get a job on a very small scale, maybe 10 hours a week, they have really nowhere else to go to get included into the community other than Day Hab centers and that’s why it’s needed here,” Watkins said.

The Heaths, along with their newly established Graham Friends of The Arc, are working to raise funds to purchase a location at the building at South and Cherry Street being offered for $300,000. The purchase would provide The Arc a rent-free location, pending approval by The Arc board.

“That building is really important and why you would choose that is because we don’t plan on just wanting to provide Day Hab services and stop there,” Watkins said. “…There’s going to be room to provide transportation, (Social Programs), (Bridge Programs) and Child Care maybe one day. Whatever services that are not being met here in Graham, that’s what we’re coming in (to provide) and that building will be a lot more flexible when that happens.”

The Graham Friends of The Arc is accepting tax-deductible donations for the purchase of the building for The Arc via check. Checks can be made out to Graham Friends of The Arc, P.O. Box 1094, Graham, TX 76450. The nonprofit board will maintain ownership of the building and will remain active to continue to service the property.

“The community has blessed us so much with the donations,” Dennis Heath said. “...We’re going to be closing on the building in a couple of weeks. The money is coming in. We have a ways to go, but we’re excited and confident that it’s going to happen. We’ve got some contingencies that we’ll be sure that we’re able to close and continue to move on into a renovation of the building.”

In the interim, while the nonprofit organization continues to raise funding for the new location, a soft opening will be held for The Arc who are utilizing a temporary location.

“We’re in the Helen Farabee building. Right now we’re going to be opening the first week of May... to provide services just for those individuals, maybe a few more,” Watkins said. “We’re renting out the old building that Helen Farabee was using for the short term until this building is acquired and renovated. ...We won’t know until probably that first month the assessment of how many individuals we can take and serve in that building.”

Watkins said the company is currently in the process of hiring for the new location and will make a determination after the new building is purchased and renovated to determine additional needed positions.

Through the efforts of the nonprofit board and the willingness of The Arc to come to Young County, IDD services will have a central location soon. Dennis Heath said he is thankful for all who have supported the efforts to restore services.

“There’s a lot of individuals behind this, whether the donation is very low or very high, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “People are giving from their heart and they’re giving from their blessings and from their abilities to give.”