Volunteering for change
When I arrived at ADA’s storefront on my first visit, I noticed ranks of brightly painted, fun-looking furniture, some of it waiting to be delivered to clients and some of it on display as examples of the adaptations made upstairs in the workshop. Photograph portraits on the wall showed children using the custom-made equipment for sitting up, eating independently, playing with siblings.
I’d seen the PBS segment where Alex Truesdell tells the story of how ADA came into being to change the lives of people with special needs and their families. I was inspired to go to the website, where I learned about the focus on children, on training, on solving problems, and on ADA’s determination to change the culture to bring full integration to people with disabilities. A heading on the website about volunteering encouraged me to pick up the phone to apply. Over the past few months I’d been looking for a way to contribute my time in a way that counts.
I’ve been a volunteer before. Several years ago I joined Learning Leaders and tutored a twelve-year-old SIFE student (Student with Interrupted Formal Education) from Mali. We worked on basic skills at school, while I tried to help her make the transition to life in America without losing the approval of her traditional father and stepmother. The time with her over the next five years, as she made the journey through high school, added something to my life I hadn’t known I needed. Today she’s married with a child, and she runs her own small business. My commitment to her helped her move forward in her life, and it gave me the gift of sharing my time with someone in need.
ADA welcomed me that first day. Once I’d had a tour of storefront, workshop and offices, Talya, the Integrated Education Coordinator, asked me what I could do. I told her I could sew, liked solving problems and fixing things, and had been a writer. I mentioned I was interested in taking the hands-on course to learn cardboard carpentry, but for the moment I’d be happy to do anything they needed. They made a place for me.
My first big task was a slip-on cushion for a cafeteria chair for a boy with spina bifida. The cushion helped protect his spine; the chair got him out of his wheelchair so he could sit and eat lunch with his friends. Since then I’ve done other sewing and made more cushions for children with special needs and for an adult with Parkinson’s. As time goes by I’m learning how to edge the cardboard adaptations and help with other jobs in the workshop. I’ve also done filing, data entry, and some writing. Every day brings something new. My newest role is working with the Development team, tracking donations and making sure that everyone gets thanked.
ADA is a democratic and generous place. It shares its techniques and ideas with other groups or organizations to help kids with disabilities fulfill their potential to grow into independent people. Everyone on the team is engaged; everyone contributes to the building of an adaptation. It’s best when the building is done with families rather than for them. ADA works for each local client, and beyond that, plans a movement that will spread to communities all over the world. The hope of real change for our culture is in the air I breathe here, and that’s why I keep coming back.
About the Author
Angela has been a volunteer since February 2016. She admires the humanity of ADA and loves being part of it. Children, inclusion, social change. These themes brought her to the organization to join the team that makes a difference in a harsh world. She was a volunteer tutor for Learning Leaders for several years, and has co-written a book on the history of New York City. At ADA she spends her time writing messages of thanks to our generous donors, and helping out in the workshop.