Kaitlin Payne
I am encouraged that Virginia’s General Assembly is considering a budget amendment that will have a profound impact on my life and that of so many friends. The $250,000 amendment will support Specially Adapted Resources Clubs (SPARC), a day program that provides vital continuing education, leisure learning and chronic long-term care to adults with severe disabilities at five locations in Northern Virginia.
I have been a member of SPARC for eight years and love attending four days a week. I am 35 and can’t walk or use my hands due to quadriplegic cerebral palsy. I also have low vision, and my voice is slow and difficult for some to understand. At SPARC, I have friends and involvement in the community, and the activities are adapted. I love it. No other day program offers opportunities that truly include me.
SPARC was founded in 2006 and changed the long-term care blueprint for young adults with severe disabilities. From the beginning, SPARC provided a safe and caring environment where young adults with severe disabilities learn and simply have fun together. SPARC provides the same supportive structure and continues the learning that we had in school while also giving us a place to socialize with a community of our peers.
SPARC has spent almost two decades proving how to efficiently deliver high-quality day programs to our community. It leverages existing resources and funding pools available to it and the families and people like me that it serves. It’s a model that should be replicated. I know that the program is more effective and less costly than other options, but the funding SPARC receives is not enough.
My mom pays $600 a month for me to attend, and even though it hasn’t risen in several years that is a lot for us to afford. I am sad when I think that the cost limits the benefit of this wonderful program for other people like me.
Virginia is regularly ranked as the top state for conducting business, second for hospital patient care and safety, and fifth in education. But sadly, it ranks 39th for quality of life for people with disabilities. Investments like this can improve that and also save taxpayer dollars.
I am hoping that Virginia supports this amendment. I also hope that more people understand that enhancing lives for people with severe disabilities is a worthy and smart investment.