Hollyanne Forville is fundraising
Art for The Arc
The Arc of Shelby County (a chapter under The Arc of the United States) is an advocacy organization for individuals living with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and their families. It was originally started in 1970 by several concerned parents, including my own. My parents started our chapter after my sister, Vickie, was born with Down’s syndrome and severely debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. When my parents and sister retired to Florida in the late 1990s, The Arc of Shelby County disbanded. Unfortunately, my sister passed away in 2008 due to complications from pneumonia.
My family has always advocated strongly for individuals living with disabilities and their families, and in 2009, my father and I began a chapter of The Aktion Club - a community service organization whose members live with either a physical or intellectual disability. We began with 26 members and now have almost 60. In 2015, we decided we needed to resurrect The Arc of Shelby County. This became our umbrella under which The Aktion Club functioned.
In 2012 my oldest daughter gave birth to her son, Miller. She knew within two weeks there was an issue. As a family, we began to try to get a diagnosis for him so that we could begin to get him the help he needed. Fortunately, Indiana has a wonderful program called First Steps which is early intervention for young children. Unfortunately, this program stops at the age of 3. When Miller was almost three years old, our entire family was desperate to help him. He was completely non-verbal aside from being able to scream the word “No” which was his entire method of communication. He was a miserable, unhappy and very aggressive little boy. Late one night, my daughter texted me telling me we should open a sensory gym. I immediately texted back saying “absolutely.” I got out of bed to Google what a sensory gym was. Once I realized how this type of play helps young children with disabilities I was all in and there was no turning back. We took the idea to my father and together, as a family, we opened Senses – An Indoor Playroom Gym for Young Children.
We opened our doors in February, 2016 and have served over 5,000 children of all abilities ages 1-6. We charge a nominal fee ($6 per child – adults play for free). No one is ever turned away. If a family cannot afford to come to Senses, we waive the fee, no questions asked. We have no paid employees. We are all volunteers and survive solely on fundraisers and grants. Due to Covid-19, we have been closed since mid-March and our main fundraiser that brings most of the money we use throughout the year had to be canceled. Our hope is to reopen to the public on August 25th, but with that comes a lot of additional costs due to cleaning and sanitizing the space to ensure safety for all of our families.
Andrea and I have decided to team up to try and raise some needed funds through a double mug raffle for a few of our favorite not-for-profits. We chose The Arc of Shelby County, Senses, to be the first one. We plan to do this every 4-6 weeks so please stay tuned!
My family has always advocated strongly for individuals living with disabilities and their families, and in 2009, my father and I began a chapter of The Aktion Club - a community service organization whose members live with either a physical or intellectual disability. We began with 26 members and now have almost 60. In 2015, we decided we needed to resurrect The Arc of Shelby County. This became our umbrella under which The Aktion Club functioned.
In 2012 my oldest daughter gave birth to her son, Miller. She knew within two weeks there was an issue. As a family, we began to try to get a diagnosis for him so that we could begin to get him the help he needed. Fortunately, Indiana has a wonderful program called First Steps which is early intervention for young children. Unfortunately, this program stops at the age of 3. When Miller was almost three years old, our entire family was desperate to help him. He was completely non-verbal aside from being able to scream the word “No” which was his entire method of communication. He was a miserable, unhappy and very aggressive little boy. Late one night, my daughter texted me telling me we should open a sensory gym. I immediately texted back saying “absolutely.” I got out of bed to Google what a sensory gym was. Once I realized how this type of play helps young children with disabilities I was all in and there was no turning back. We took the idea to my father and together, as a family, we opened Senses – An Indoor Playroom Gym for Young Children.
We opened our doors in February, 2016 and have served over 5,000 children of all abilities ages 1-6. We charge a nominal fee ($6 per child – adults play for free). No one is ever turned away. If a family cannot afford to come to Senses, we waive the fee, no questions asked. We have no paid employees. We are all volunteers and survive solely on fundraisers and grants. Due to Covid-19, we have been closed since mid-March and our main fundraiser that brings most of the money we use throughout the year had to be canceled. Our hope is to reopen to the public on August 25th, but with that comes a lot of additional costs due to cleaning and sanitizing the space to ensure safety for all of our families.
Andrea and I have decided to team up to try and raise some needed funds through a double mug raffle for a few of our favorite not-for-profits. We chose The Arc of Shelby County, Senses, to be the first one. We plan to do this every 4-6 weeks so please stay tuned!
- J
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