HOUSTON – Serving six counties in rural Texas is Inspiration Village. It is a non-profit organization that provides close to 30 people with developmental and intellectual disabilities a place to learn life skills during the day.
Connie Price is co-founder of Inspiration Village. She said she loves to help people, “to be able to become as independent as possible in life.”
Connie said she was inspired by her son to start the organization.
“I have a son who is autistic. When he was in junior high, we started wondering what in the world is going to happen when he is out of school, because we both work full time and we started doing research and there was nothing in this area, that could accommodate his needs or our needs,” Connie said.
Connie said as a parent of a child with autism, it’s a concern who might take care of that child after the parent passes.
“It’s always a parent’s wonder what in the world is going to happen when we are gone, then it always falls back on siblings or other family members if they are able,” she said.
At the village, they learn life skills, explained Connie.
“It serves the purpose of giving these people a place rather than staying at home and really have nothing to do to fulfill their lives during the day,” she said.
Every day begins with the Pledge of Allegiance, then it’s off to work.
Joshua Clayton and Kevin Terrell tend to the chickens and cows.
“I like coming here a lot. It gets me away from home,” Kevin said.
For Josh, his favorite chores are both inside the home and outside on the farm.
“I feed the animals; I call it cubes. I like to cook in the kitchen,” he said.
And this is the hope-- to work together to become more independent with each day.
For more information, go to www.inspirationvillage.org or follow Inspiration Village on Facebook.