For Phyllis Armstrong, the most rewarding part of her work with Douglas County-based is seeing the confidence participants gain in themselves during their field trips and interactions with people beyond the center’s walls.
Armstrong, a registered nurse, is a director with Sky Cliff’s adult day program designed to enrich the lives of people with mental disabilities. It serves around two dozen adults with special needs every weekday, whether it be through arts and music classes at its building near Castle Rock at 4600 E. Colorado 86 or through various community outings three times each week.
“It’s amazing,” Armstrong said last week as 25 Sky Cliff day program participants bowled at in Centennial. “We really just try to get out there and find anything and everything to engage these guys.”
Sky Cliff, a faith-based, , got started in 1984 as a support center for people recovering from strokes, and their families. Then, in the late 1990s, seeing a need for services for people with special needs, it launched its adult day program. Executive director Shawn Littell said about 40 people with challenges ranging from autism spectrum disorders to cerebral palsy and Down syndrome attend regularly, with around 25 coming each day.
Day program coordinator Shanan Holub said she feels the community outings are a cornerstone of what Sky Cliff does. The certified nursing assistant said the staff aims to provide a variety of activities to stimulate participants, from museum and library visits, to bowling and , to volunteering with other charitable organizations such as in the .
“It’s very important because they’re out in public and people see them and see they can do certain things and be part of a community,” Holub said.
Sky Cliff also partners with other groups and organizations on social outings to provide an experience many feel is enriching for all involved. That was the case at Celebrity Lanes last week when Sky Cliff participants bowled, played cards and ate lunch with a group of students from in Highlands Ranch.
“I think the biggest thing I see with our kids is we go into these days hoping to be a blessing, but more often we’re the ones who are blessed,” said Donna Nelson, Cherry Hills spiritual activities coordinator. “It’s just an opportunity for our kids to gain a better understanding of those with disabilities and make some new friends. Sky Cliff has always been a highlight for us.”
Will Harris, a retired member of the Castle Rock Police Department who now regularly volunteers with Sky Cliff, said the value of the school kids spending time with Sky Cliff clients is obvious to him.
“I think a lot of kids are afraid of people with disabilities. They don’t know what to expect,” Harris said. “But this shows them they’re people, too. They can interact with them.”
Cherry Hills eighth-grader Lawson Bacheller said he has spent time with people with special needs several times during the school’s “Ministry in Motion” days and it has taught him patience.
“You need to understand them,” he said.
Sky Cliff staff members are actively looking for new, interactive events to add to their list of day program activities. For clients like 25-year-old Jared Funk, his hope is that the day program will grow big enough to have excursions beyond Colorado.
“We get to make friends. We go out and do lots of things. We do bowling, movies. We even go horseback riding in the summer time,” he said. “I just wish it would go viral across the country. If they went nationwide we could go to the beach or the La Brea Tar Pits.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953 or jrubino@denverpost.com
