New adult day-care center aims to give disabled adults meaningful experiences

Feb. 28-- Feb. 28--UNION GROVE -- "Take any of the frustration you have out on those bananas," Rebecca Bursek said encouragingly as Dennis smashed the fruit with a fork.

Dennis was one of seven people sitting around the table Wednesday, each fulfilling tasks -- spooning out peanut butter, measuring flour, testing eggs to make sure they were fresh, mixing batter -- to create dog treats to donate to Tiny Paws Small Dog Rescue. It was just another day at Achievements by james, a new adult day-care business in Union Grove that aims to provide meaningful life experiences for adults with disabilities.

"We want to show the community that people with all types of abilities contribute to society and that they're valued," said Bursek, the day care's executive director.

Currently, 11 adults from area group homes come throughout the week. Participants are dropped off at 9 a.m. and do activities until 3 p.m. for a fee of $65 per day.

Each day is different at the center, which opened Feb. 4 at 1014 Vine St. In the past month, Bursek and the two other staff members have taken participants shopping, let them bake pizzas, had healthy eating discussions, done science experiments and taught them self-advocacy.

"Our main goal is that we don't want to just warehouse people with disabilities," said Gordon Svendsen, who owns Achievements by james and three area group homes with two of his sons. "That's not right. It's not something we want to do."

Facility still developing

Svendsen, a Union Grove village trustee and president of Accurity S and S Appraisal Service, moved his appraisal service's office to Main Street last summer and decided to open Achievements by james in his old offices. The building has various rooms including a kitchen, game room, library and film room, all of which have ever-evolving uses as Bursek, who has 25 years of experience working with adults with disabilities, develops the day care.

Some activities, such as pizza and cookie baking, are suggested by the participants.

"It was just cool to see everybody's expression and just how excited they were, and it was fun," Bursek said. "They still talk about it, so that's an experience we know was an awesome time for everybody."

One of Achievements by james' biggest focuses is teaching participants that they are valuable as people and can still actively contribute to society, said Erika Kuiper-Harnum, assistant director.

"It really is participant-drive and what's best for the participants," Kuiper-Harnum said.

Room to grow

The facility is licensed for up to 50 participants and is required to have at the highest an 8:1 participant-to-employee ratio. Svendsen said he wants to keep that ratio smaller, about 5:1 to 6:1, and said the facility will add staff as more participants sign up.

Adults with any disability are welcome, Bursek said, whether it be a brain injury, Down syndrome, autism or something else.

On Achievements by james' Facebook page, people can follow along with many of the day-to-day activities. Marketing Manager Lisa Tait has chronicled grocery store trips, baking sessions and science experiments to show what the participants are up to.

"I really try to capture character in the photos that I take," Tait said.

The facility is accepting new residents. Future activities may include gardening around the building or on Main Street, Svendsen said.

"They have needs," Svendsen said. "They're a great bunch of people; they just have to have someone help them with things and make sure no one's taking advantage of them. And that's our goal: to make life as good as we possibly can for them."

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