You may or may not be aware that many families of children with special needs have a deep desire to worship at a church of their choice. However, it can be very difficult for “our” families to go to services due to the sensory issues that affect our children. My family for instance, cannot go to services (inside churches) as my child becomes incredibly distraught and will go into full on melt down mode. It has a lot to do with his senses being so very heightened, the sound of the organ against the high ceilings and the audio system booming off the surroundings, the large group of people, the scent of the incense just is too much for my child to handle. As a result we can no longer attend services. After having many discussions with other families like my own, I find this is very common. For those of us with a deep faith in a Higher Power, we miss these services. We miss the spiritual guidance, the community, and healing power of our churches. At every hospital I have ever had to go to (for joy or sadness), there was a chapel. The chapel boasts no affiliation for one religion or another; it is a place for quite meditation with a persons Higher Power, a place to pray and a place to seek comfort.

The A.D.L. Center wishes to provide families a place for worship, in an environment suited to our families needs and led by a Non-Denominational Pastor. This is an overwhelmingly important issue to most families I have consulted with in regards to what they would like to have at the center.

I will be researching how to get this available to families at our center by means of speaking to local churches in the community. Hopefully, our churches can unite and help with funding a Church of Hope for our families and we can designate a Pastor to lead it.