No One Asked Me But… (May 1, 2024)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… I have become involved in a non-profit organization serving children and adults with a variety of disabilities in the Moapa Valley communities.

In the fall of 2021, the depth of the pandemic, a group of community parents and educators in Moapa Valley met at Grant Bowler park to develop the Aspire Center for Adolescents and Adults with diverse disabilities, and their families in the communities of Overton, Logandale, Glendale, Moapa and the Moapa River Indian Reservation.

The organization was created to enhance the lives of special needs individuals, and the lives of their caregivers.

The Aspire Center is dedicated to helping these people reach their full potential. Through vocational training, community employment, day services, advocacy, art and social recreation, individuals with all types of disabilities will benefit in multiple ways.

The mission of the organization is to educate and empower these individuals so they can achieve the highest possible degree of personal wellbeing and independence. It is the vision of the Aspire Center to build a local facility that provides state of the art vocational, and social self-help programs for this underserved population. The organization provides appropriate support to further learning and income opportunities for these individuals. Such opportunities will have a dramatic impact on the social and economic future for this rural community.

There is an clear need for these services. The greater Moapa Valley area has about 12,000 residents. Based on placement rates of the Clark County School District, about four percent of the overall population have significant cognitive, academic, motor, or social delays that limit engagement in competitive employment. Aspire is currently aware of over 100 local families in need of these services. At a four percent level, Aspire will eventually meet the needs of up to 500 special needs families.

Currently The Aspire Center meets with their participants every week. The participants work on vocational training by making dog treats, greeting cards, and creative crafts which can be sold at local vendor fairs. While selling these goods, they learn to properly handle money while expanding their ability to socialize and forge friendships. This also gives caregivers a much-needed break.

In addition, Aspire organizes and funds large group social gatherings so that families can relax and have fun together.

Aspire also works with the community businesses to enable the clients to find gainful employment. They also assist caregivers by making them aware of the legal assistance available.

Aspire’s long-term goal is to create a day center program that will serve individuals with more complex needs. The participants may find joy in being greeters in a local business or participating in social function such as movies, BBQs, or field trips.

Aspire will expand training programs for individuals that may have had a mild academic or behavioral support as a student. Such individuals may have qualified for Special Education due to learning disabilities, health impairments, anxiety disorder, high functioning autism or visual/hearing impairment. The individuals can find joy in obtaining competitive employment and securing a career that can allow them to move to independent living.

Aspire will help grow the support team for parents/guardians as they face decades of supervising and loving dependent children or relatives. This includes making information available about financial, medical, and legal support services.

Aspire will also provide those breaks from being a full-time providers of basic needs. Such assistance will be given in support groups, counseling with volunteer attorneys, and building connections with other support organization.

The Aspire Center currently uses existing community-based structures for vocational training; however, ultimately, a permanent independent building is needed. Since Aspires’ initial informal meeting in the fall of 2021, the Aspire Center has moved from the vision of a few concerned citizens and parents to the formation of a 501c3 nonprofit corporation recognized by the State of Nevada and the Federal IRS. The organization operates under governing by-laws filed with the State and

Federal governments and meets all the legal requirements for a non-profit organization.
While Las Vegas has several non-profit organizations, such as Opportunity Village, that address the needs of developmentally disabled individuals. Access to services in Las Vegas requires a turn-around distance of over 120 miles. Parents/guardians of disabled adults from our valley often travel that distance to receive services such as occupational, physical, speech, or cognitive/behavioral therapies.

Mesquite is the closest community with services, and this is an eighty-minute round trip. Mesquite has several residential homes for the disabled adults that are coordinated through Danville. For the most part, transportation to and from must be provided by the family desiring to use the services.

The Desert Rural Regional Services is a county directed program that can offer pointers to families that are seeking services for adult clients, but this regional service does not have an office in Moapa Valley, and is not a direct service provider.

Presently The Aspire Center is being operated by a variety of volunteer board members with varying expertise concerning the education of people with disabilities. These people know what it takes to work with these individuals and to move them toward their highest possible level of independence.

Volunteers on the board, a certified social worker, a school psychologist, an attorney, and others with valuable skills. These dedicated volunteers have added their expertise in the development of Aspire’s programs.

It is the intent of Aspire to develop into a full-blown program by hiring experts in the various areas of need for special need members of our community. This facility will make it possible to serve the growing number of families identified with special needs members within the Moapa Valley communities. To do so, Aspire is actively seeking the support of business, ecclesiastical, tribal, federal, and other government agencies that wish to share in their mission.

More information can be at www.acaamv.org or by calling 702-544-6161. Those wishing to donate to the cause may do so by check made out to Aspire Center for Adolescents and Adults of Moapa Valley, P.O. Box 2125, Overton, Nevada, 89040, or through the donate button on the website. All donations are tax deductible.

Thought of the week…Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.
– Matt. 25:40