Extra Special PeopleEnhancing the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything,

but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything,

I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”Helen Keller

Sometimes you choose your job, other times it chooses you. At 20 years of age, I wasn’t sure why the job as Executive Director of Extra Special People, Inc., had chosen me. Thrown into the position, I was without the skill set and experience. But, I knew I had a mission to improve the lives of kids with special needs. I believed that with a mission, a dream and the drive to change lives, anything was possible.

It was three years later that I sat in the hospital room with a widowed father of one of our ESP campers, Caleb. He was bleeding internally. As this father cradled his 13-year-old son with a developmental disability in his arms, he told his story.

“The first five years of Caleb’s life I was a traveling, withdrawn, and hard-working father. I was afraid of my son’s disability and too intimidated to communicate with him. One day, I had a realization while sitting in the bed of a hotel room. I realized that I was not here on earth for Caleb, Caleb was here for me. It was in that moment that I quit my job and began to get to know Caleb. A short time later, I tragically became a single father when my wife was killed in a car accident.”

A Message from the Executive Director

In that experience, I realized why my job chose me: to enhance the lives of children with disabilities as they change the lives of people without disabilities. I realized that these children are here for the rest of us. They teach us to love life in its truest and purest form – in relationships, memories and love.

Laura is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Special Education with a concentration in Autism. She began her relationship with Extra Special People, Inc., as a counselor. In January 2006, Laura was selected as the Executive Director following the sudden death of the founder, Martha Wyllie in 2004. Laura has been awarded the Super Citizen Award, the 40 Under 40 Award by the Athens Banner Herald, and the Community Four-Way Test Award by the Rotary Club of Oconee County. She is a member of L.E.A.D. Athens Class of 2012, the Oconee County Civitan Club, and the Athens Church of Christ. She also enjoys her role as a wife to husband Joseph and mother to Owen Patrick.

There is a favorite song we sing and sign at ESP Camp. It is called “World’s Greatest”

I am a mountainI am a tall tree

I am a riverDown in the valley

I am a visionAnd I can see clearly

If anybody asks you who I am

Just stand up tall look ‘em in the face and say:I’m that star up in the skyI’m that mountain peak up highHey, I made itI’m the worlds greatestAnd I’m that little bit of hopeWhen my back’s against the ropes

I can feel it. I’m the worlds greatest!

This message could not be any more appropriate for the individuals at ESP. We need them to teach us the way life is meant to be lived. I invite you to become a partner with us in this venture, to provide

opportunities for children with disabilities. And in doing so, may you learn from them. You can change our community alongside the world’s greatest – the heroes – the children of ESP.

ESP empowers children with developmental disabilities to cultivate skills, self-confidence, and relationships through recreational therapy, community involvement, and the arts. With the support of volunteers and donors, the ESP team gives participants and their families acceptance, hope, and the opportunity to not just survive, but to thrive.

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our Mission

ESP’s Board of Directors... Leaders Who Care

Our Heritage

Extra Special People, Inc., is the legacy of one woman who had a passion for children and young people with special needs, and a vision of a place where they and their families could focus on their abilities instead of their disabilities. Martha Wyllie founded ESP in 1986, offering high-quality affordable programs for “people with different abilities.” Twenty-one children enrolled in that first summer camp, which operated on a budget of $20,000. By the time Martha died in 2004, ESP was serving 130 campers with a budget of $150,000 and had acquired a small facility where children could be served on-site. The year following Martha’s death, ESP Summer Camp was in danger of being eliminated because of lack of funding. When a young camp counselor, Laura Whitaker, heard this, she pulled together the families and made a call to the community to save camp by raising $50,000 in just a matter of months. The founder’s family appointed Laura as the new Executive Director in January of 2006. Since becoming Executive Director, Laura has led ESP to expanded programming, and the organization now serves more young people than ever before.

Joe MoonChairman

Carter StricklandCampaign Chair

Chris GrinerTreasurer

Joan BairdBoard Member

Buddy BarfieldBoard Member

Sallyanne BarrowBoard Member

Jake BertonBoard Member

Toni SwanBoard Member

Allison NealyBoard Member

Courtney DavisBoard Member

Steve MasonBoard Member

Beth PageBoard Member

Chuck ToneyBoard Member

Chuck WilliamsBoard Member

ESP CampSummer Camp is a seven-week program currently serving more than 115 young people with disabilities. The camp provides continuous learning as well as social and recreational opportunities. ESP Summer camp offers a 2:1 counselor ratio, which affords much-needed attention and support to our campers. Camp features a variety of activities that create opportunities for each camper to build confidence and independence, while supplying their families with a much-needed respite.

Year-Round ActivitiesESP Club!ESP Club meetings are held one Saturday per month for children with disabilities aged 4-15. There are a variety of activities each month including sports and games, art therapy, music therapy, lunch and special holiday activities.

NKANKA (also known as No Kids Allowed), is a twice monthly outing for ESP’s older members. NKA provides opportunities for social interaction, recreation and supervised outings in the community.

Super SkillsThe goal of the Super Skills group is to teach students with Asperger’s Syndrome and high-functioning autism a social skills curriculum focused on direct instruction in social behaviors that most people learn through life experiences.

Family ConnectionESP hosts a variety of opportunities for families to meet each other, such as an annual holiday dinner and family bowling nights. Parents’ Night Out is an evening when caretakers can be assured that their children are being cared for at the ESP facility while they have much-needed respite. ESP also provides educational programs as needed to aid families on Medicaid Waiver information and disability research-based best practices classes.

After-School Activities ESPicassos: Art therapy is shown to give individuals with disabilities another gateway of communication along with increasing various physical, social and emotional skills. Our art students – the ESPicassos – create works of art using various mediums and then work with ESP staff to plan an exhibit of their works at the Sciences & Arts Gallery at Athens Academy.

ESPiranhas: The Extra Special Piranhas are ESP’s very own swim team. Whether they are training for Special Olympics or simply enjoying the water, ESP provides opportunities throughout the year for our independent swimmers to increase their skills while spending time with their friends and learning the importance of teamwork.

ESProuts: The ESP Yoga Sprouts promote a fun and safe environment where children with disabilities are guided through movements that develop physical strength and flexibility, improve concentration, reduce hyperactivity, cultivate confidence and self-esteem, enhance self-control and relaxation, refine creativity and increase cognitive and motor skills.

How We Make a Difference

“I cannot express in words the comfort I feel when Janna attends ESP events. It is such a joy to know that she has her ESP family for support.”

“At ESP, it feels that everything is going to be all right. We are welcomed for who we were and most of all, accepted! I feel so at home with ESP!”

“Laura and the staff at ESP do not see limitations for our children, only their potential. Their efforts amaze the families of campers and encourage us to look outside our box and stretch for our children.”

At ESP, it’s not about what they can’t do...IT’S ABOUT WHAT THEY CAN!

“For seven years we watched Megan’s behavior worsen and become more aggressive. Then we found ESP. For the first time in years, we have hope for our daughter!”

“Of all the programs we have tried, ESP has been the most beneficial to our daughter’s growth, development and happiness.”

“Our children want the same things other children want. A chance to be loved and accepted for who they are, to become all they can be, to be a respected part of our community. ESP does that.”

“Once you’ve experienced ESP, you’ll never be the same!”

Thriving!Because ESP provides services for the family entity – focusing on abilities and building confidence – individuals with disabilities do not simply exist, they thrive.

“Do not cast me into an eternity of total dependency, or lure me into a world of fantasy.

Certainly, I have a disability, and I do not deny its reality.

Nevertheless, I must not resign to a life of pity, or reside on the fringes of society.”

William E. Lightbourne

Opportunity Knocks...

Look forward. Think big.Opportunity knocks. You can hear it when you look into the eyes of our children. You can see it in the relieved expressions of moms and dads. You can

sense it in the disappointment on the face of a parent who has just been told, “We don’t have room for your child.” The vision of a new facility in the rolling fields of Oconee County is the dream of our students, their parents, and their counselors alike. Opportunity indeed knocks. Sometimes, in the case of this defining opportunity, it pounds. Please listen! No one can make your choice… but you. Will you respond to this opportunity and help ESP achieve its Great Dream? As you review the next few pages, consider the impact you could have on the lives of the children and families we serve. Ask yourself what part you can play in this defining opportunity. Then, listen to your heart. Listen to your reasoning as you consider how you should respond to the real needs of children with disabilities and their families. Hear how, together, we can lift children to move beyond their limitations and really achieve something more in life. Let’s look forward and think big… together.

The Dream

According the Georgia Department of Education, there are almost 50,000 children in the state of Georgia that could be properly served by Extra Special People. In its present state, ESP does an excellent job of providing services to a very limited number of local children and families...

but for every two children ESP serves, one child must be turned away.

There is a profound need within the greater region for quality services that provide unique opportunities for education, recreation and socialization. Families in the region are desperate for programs and activities that provide quality care for their children with disabilities and respite from the daily rigors of caring for their children.

With ESP’s Three-Year Plan, the organization is poised to have a greater capacity to serve children and families in surrounding counties as well as those

we are currently serving locally.

Increased program capacity...- 50% increased enrollment for those programs currently available.- Additional programs for those we currently serve and for those waiting.- Afterschool Program- Bridge of Family Support - Sibling Support- Regional Team Sports and Opportunities

An Endowment Fund to Ensure Sustainability for Generations to Come…A properly funded Endowment means that ESP can help children thrive for decades to come.

A New Building at a New Location...

Our present facility and property has served us well for two decades. However, it no longer adequately supports our present programming, and certainly not the vision for the future of the children and families. With 10 acres and a 25,000 square foot fully accessible building, ESP can begin to provide space for activities that greatly enhance the lives of those we serve and for those that are waiting.

- Music Art & Therapy Rooms

- Teaching Kitchen

- Wheelchair Accessible Garden

- Sensory Room

- Sports Fields

- Therapy rooms for Private Therapists

- Classroom Space

- Family Counseling Space

- Changing Rooms for Children in Wheelchairs

ESP 3 YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN

Program Expansion

Capital Investments

Endowment

“A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.”

William Arthur Ward

“Extra Special People allows the opportunity to positively impact and facilitate change in our community. It’s a chance to

touch the lives of someone you know or someone in need. The leadership of ESP has been steadfast in its dedication to helping children with developmental disabilities as well as helping their families and educating the public about the wonderful qualities of these very special children. With ESP you can be guaranteed

your dollars go directly into meaningful programming and directly impact the children, the families and the community.”

Carter Strickland - Campaign Chair

“Placing one foot in front of the other, I’ve climbed to higher lengths,

reaching beyond my own limitations, to show my inner strength.

No obstacle too hard, for this warrior to overcome. I’m just a man on a mission,

to prove my disability hasn’t won.”

Robert M. Hensel

Physical address: 189 VFW Dr. Watkinsville, GA 30677 (706) 254-4850

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 615 Watkinsville, GA 3067 www.ExtraSpecialPeople.com