The Tolleson Family Activity Center in Dallas is a shining symbol of a commitment that Highland Park United Methodist Church leaders made long ago to kids, youth and adults with disabilities.
Three stories high, it’s positioned across a busy street facing Southern Methodist University and Highland Park United Methodist Church, which owns and operates the Center. Here — by design — children, youth and adults with disabilities enter a world of their own and have the chance to feel fully engaged in the church experience.
Sensory rooms
The genesis of HPUMC’s standard-setting disability ministry is a monthly program called Night OWLS — Out With Loving Sitters.
“Parents of children with disabilities are invited to leave the kids and their siblings in the church’s care for a few hours to reconnect as a couple, run errands, and so on,” explains Michelle Cox, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Generosity & Impact Ministries.
Meanwhile, the children (with and without medical complexities) enjoy an evening of fun and activities created just for them. For added peace of mind, appropriate medical care and providers are on staff.
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Night OWLS ministry began with a felt need in the church.
“We had a couple of families that expressed concern about not feeling comfortable coming to church or not being a part of church programming,” Cox recalls. “We — the church leadership at the time — started navigating those conversations, asking What can we do that’s different? That’s where this respite program came to light. And that’s when we went all in.”
SPECIAL NEEDS DESIGN ON THE RISE
To hear HH Architects President and CEO Bruce Woody and Principal Gary Kirchoff talk about it, there’s something special in the air around church design lately.
“We were talking with somebody the other day, and they said, ‘Y’all have done a fair amount of special needs design’ — and I guess we have,” Woody says. “That’s because churches that aren’t focusing on special needs ministry are missing out on a great population.
“But I have to say, this isn’t something you ease into,” he adds. “You’ve got to jump all in.”
Case in point: Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tenn. Here, in 2022, leaders completed the Rowen Glenn Center, a separate, free-standing, 17,580-square-foot building to house special needs ministries.
A canopy covers a sidewalk which wraps two sides of the building and provides wheelchair accessibility. The building includes age-specific classrooms, sensory rooms, an art room, an indoor playroom, a teaching kitchen, home arts, and more. This facility not only allows for worship and learning, but also for teaching various life skills to individuals with disabilities.
For his part, Kirchoff agrees that special needs facilities like this one are largely untapped ministry opportunities for churches. He also, however, says church leaders should expect a learning curve going in.
“In this respect, it’s helpful to enlist specialists,” Kirchoff advises. “For a lot of our special needs projects, a church comes to the table with people who have been heading up this type of programming for a while. They can relate what a sensory room needs to do, for instance. And they already know the devices that they want to incorporate.”
All this can be complicated, sure. But the alternative is a missed ministry opportunity.
“Once a church reaches out, it opens up a whole group of people who can now get involved with that church,” Woody says. “Otherwise, a lot of families stay at home on a Sunday to take care of their loved ones with special needs.”
WHAT ‘ALL-IN’ LOOKS LIKE
Aside from the fervor surrounding Night OWLS, the church minister’s calling to serve individuals with disabilities was instrumental in making Tolleson Family Activity Center a reality.
“He said, ‘Look, this is a unique opportunity for our church to give back something to this community that we’re uniquely qualified to do,’” Cox remembers. “And so, he challenged the teams to look at the Tolleson building and see how we could maximize space to use not only for Night OWLS, but as an expansion of the program overall.”
The Feast worship space
Moving beyond respite care for young children was a critical objective for the church, as Cox explains.
“We had to start the pivot to providing programming for young adults with disabilities,” she says. “We felt so strongly about that because, at the age of 23, these individuals are aging out of programming in our local school districts.”
To start conceiving of the Tolleson Center, church leaders enlisted Vance Gilmore, director of a highly regarded camp for children living with health challenges. Key and critical: the entire Tolleson Center building would need to be accessible to this community — beginning with parking.
To this end, a parking garage was built underneath the Center, meaning no one has to cross the street from the main campus to get there. An elevator delivers people up into the building, and lots of handicapped parking is available.
“The parking garage even has appropriate lighting and acoustics for sensory issues,” Cox points out. “We spent hours of contemplation about the panels that needed to be on the ceiling.”
FRONT-AND-CENTER VISIBILITY
Inside the Center, the Belong Disability Ministry occupies the 1st Floor. Chance’s Café is a mainstay in the space.
“It’s named after a young man by the name of Chance Urschel, who had a disability and passed away as a young adult,” Cox says. “His family wanted to do something extraordinary to honor his life and his legacy.”
Chance’s Café
What began with serving pie and coffee has expanded to a full kitchen that provides coffee through the church on Sundays, as well as catering for special events across campus and in the community. The staff of Chance’s Café is comprised of individuals with disabilities who are trained in basic culinary skills.
Nearby, sensory rooms accommodate smaller groups of children with disabilities. Uniquely designed for comfort and support, these spaces offer interaction through touch, sound and sight. Here, too, lighting is critical; hertz and frequency are considered to ensure a calming atmosphere. Acoustics are another factor; each room is treated with soundproofing.
One the third floor is The Feast, a venue where those with disabilities are invited to participate in weekly Sunday worship and Sunday school classes.
“What’s unique about that particular space is that it’s basically a large shell that provides a lot of flexibility and open space, so the seats can be rearranged as needed,” Cox says. “Also, there’s a ramp up to the stage.”
With an abundance of accessible, engaging spaces like these, HPUMC is able to host popular outreach events like Night OWLS, of course, as well as monthly SibShop® afternoons for siblings of kids with disabilities. These events are staffed by adults whose siblings who are disabled.
“They meet in the Belong Center and just discuss what it’s like,” Cox shares. “None of us know what it’s like to have a sibling with a disability, unless we’re living it. So, it’s just an honest dialogue.”
Often, the Chance’s Café team caters these gatherings, for a full 360-degree experience.
AN INSPIRATION FOR ALL
The net effect is a welcoming, inclusive destination that Cox hopes other church leaders will emulate.
“We really just hope to inspire other people to join us in creating pockets of community where individuals with disabilities can feel comfortable coming to a house of worship,” she says. “We really aim to provide programming and a facility that affords them that freedom and independence.”
