Professor creates club for adults with disabilities

Annie Garner, City Reporter

Sandy Johnson, a special education professor, uses a quote to guide her life and her organization she started, called “The Friday Club.”

“Understanding each other is the first step in living in harmony,” is written across the back of the shirts used for “The Friday Club.”

Started in May 2013, the organization is for older adults who have mental disabilities. The adults who come to “The Friday Club” come from Blumenthal, which is a senior center in Charleston.

“It’s a day program, they all live in group homes around town, and a bus picks them up in the morning. It’s kind of like a ‘day care for adults’, but these are adults with disabilities, and these are the senior citizens,” Johnson said. “It’s a ‘fun center’, a fun place for them to go everyday.”

Volunteers take an hour on Friday mornings to spend time with these adults.

Johnson said sometimes they just walk around the park, notice things and sounds, they bring cards, some of them love to talk, they provide snacks and drinks for them, and simply have a good time with them.

Given the short time the volunteers spend with the adults, Johnson said immediately the adults loved having college students to hang out with.

“This one gentleman doesn’t know anybody’s name, but he always says where is that ‘one girl’, he misses that ‘one girl’, because she gave him one-on-one attention that these adults desire to have,” Johnson said. “He is so excited to see us that sometimes when he gets off the bus he stands in place and jumps up and down. That is his ‘Hello, I’m so happy to be here.’”

“Someone that doesn’t know might be thinking ‘this guy is having a spasm or something,’ but no he isn’t, he is just happy to see all of these college students that are there, just to spend time with him. It’s interesting the more you know that population you notice the adults are sort of forgotten, and we realize we’re missing out by not spending time with them. They have so much to offer.”

To get involved with this organization volunteers need to get fingerprinted, get a background check, and fill out a volunteer packet. Johnson said this is because the adults have disabilities and the law protects them like it does anyone with IEPs in school.

The volunteer packet gives information about what volunteers can and cannot do, such as posting photos to Facebook, and reporting abuse. Volunteers can then be part of “The Friday Club” as long as they want.

Any major can be part of the club. Anyone interested can email Johnson at [email protected].

Johnson said the idea for “The Friday Club” came from being in the special education department for 43 years and seeing a need for a club that could be just for adults with disabilities.

“I’ve lived in this town for a long time, and I didn’t see what we were doing for this population. What were we doing just for them? So this is their club, we just get to be part of it, as the volunteers,” she said. “We give up our Friday mornings for them, that is what I think sets us apart from other organizations.”

Johnson hopes volunteers will take what they gained and bring it to their hometowns once they graduate.

“You move from student and individual, to friend and friend. I’m going to see my friend on Friday, and that’s what you want, you want to make that move from ‘I’m really different than they are’ to ‘no I’m not, I’m going to grow old someday too and I don’t want someone to forget all about me’,” Johnson said.

The program has been very successful, and through a grant and donations, she is able to make shirts for her program that she gives volunteers to spread the word about her organization.

“I’d say it’s been successful. I’m trying to recruit and get some other adults to be a part of this with me so that if I happen to be gone, ‘The Friday Club’ could still go on,” she said. “People can come as guests without going through fingerprinting, the background check, and paperwork, to see if this is something they would even be interested in doing.”

This program is all about these adults, and giving them a “happy place” to look forward to every week, she said.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to do the right thing, have some fun, and make some new friends,” Johnson said. “I think what’s most special about our adults that we work with is that they ask nothing of us, they just love us, and want someone to spend time with them. It’s just for them. It’s all about them.”

Annie Garner can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].