Born with a genetic disorder, Jason Anderson, almost 17, of Chantilly's Armfield Farms community, is mildly retarded. But a program called Project SUCCESS not only gives him the chance to interact with people his own age, but lets him help others.
That program is now coming to the local area, and its director, Mary Wolf, is hoping to attract students — both with and without disabilities — from Centreville, Chantilly and Westfield high schools, plus Franklin, Stone and Rocky Run middle schools, to participate in it.
"It's just been a 100-percent, across-the-board, incredible experience," she said. "It's changed my life completely."
The new group's first meeting will be next Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 3:30-5:30 p.m., at the Mott Community Center, 12111 Braddock Road, at the intersection of Braddock and the Fairfax County Parkway. Those interested may call Wolf at 703-425-6240 or just show up at the meeting.
Project SUCCESS is under the auspices of the county Recreation Department and Project Word of Arlington. Wolf runs the program, having begun it initially in April 1998 for her own child.
"I have a 16-year-old son, Jonathan, with autism, and I got totally frustrated with the lack of inclusion for children with disabilities," she explained. "When he was in middle school in 1997, I overheard neighbors talking about community-service hours their children had to do for their schools, clubs and sports teams."
But the parents' idea of community service was babysitting. So Wolf called the school system and said that there were some desperately lonely kids who would be thrilled if someone would just ask them to go for a walk. All they needed was someone to notice them and spend a little time with them.
Wolf was told that someone had to first set up a networking system to bring together middle and high school students with and without disabilities — so she did it herself. She started a couple groups in her area (Annandale); one was a recreation program.
"But it had a patronizing environment — the kids did it just to get their community-service hours," she said. "They didn't get emotionally invested in the kids they were working with. And I wanted to inspire the nondisabled kids that the ones with disabilities could actually enrich them as much, if not more, than they could enrich the disabled kids."
Then the national headquarters of the United Cerebral Palsy Association contacted Wolf. It had received a huge, startup grant from the Corporation for National Service to begin a program called Project SUCCESS, linking middle and high schoolers — with and without disabilities — as equal peers to improve their community through service.
"That's what I'd wanted all along," said Wolf. "I didn't want anyone treating my son like he was retarded. Instead, I wanted them to say, 'Wow, Jonathan, you can really play a good game of checkers.' I wanted them to look at what he could do, not what he couldn't do."
The grant funded the program in Pittsburgh, San Diego and in Wolf's home in Annandale. Over the next two years, six more locations were added. Since 1998, more than 600 students have participated in the program and logged more than 25,000 hours of service.
"We just won an award in October for putting in 350 hours refurbishing a homeless shelter in Falls Church," said Wolf. The local Project SUCCESS groups now meet, every other Wednesday, at the Net Teen Center in Springfield and the Pinn Community Center in Fairfax, with some 50 kids per center.
The Mott Center will open its doors next week, and Wolf is delighted. Several Centreville and Chantilly High students with disabilities already come to the Pinn Center and will now also be able to attend the new center so they'll have something to do every Wednesday.
Before they do community projects, the teens get to know each other a bit so they'll be able to work together as a team. Wolf also wants them to learn each other's strengths.
"I want them to know that, for example, although Joshua is in a wheelchair, he has a strong upper body and can help paint walls," said Wolf. "And Beth, who's mentally retarded, doesn't talk a lot, but can make beautiful fliers. As young as 12, I want the nondisabled kids to be advocates for their friends who have disabilities."
Most of those disabled have mental retardation, Down Syndrome or autism so, when the group meets to plan its service projects, the nondisabled ones think of possible roadblocks the children with particular disabilities might face. Then they find solutions.
"For example, if John finds loud noises stressful and we're going to rake leaves near a busy intersection, one of the other children might suggest that he wear [headphones] and listen to music while he rakes," said Wolf. "I want things to be student-initiated so the children learn that every one of us has things that we can work around."
When the group renovated the homeless shelter, one nonverbal boy didn't know how he could help with the labor — so, instead, he smiled and handed out snacks and beverages to the workers. "For the first time, he felt like part of a group," said Wolf. "And we let him know that what he did was just as important as everyone else's contribution. Everyone offers his highest gifts."
The group does at least 24 projects a year, such as serving meals at homeless shelters, repairing bicycles for children in foster-care centers, collecting food and clothing for the needy and holding dances for the mentally disabled adult residents of the Northern Virginia Training Center in Fairfax.
Chantilly High sophomore Jason Anderson helped decorate for one of these dances, last Friday night, and then helped the guests walk to the room where it was held. Earlier that day, he raked leaves outside the Pinn Center and played basketball with the other kids.
"It was an incredibly positive experience," said his mother, Malia Anderson. "Nondisabled peers made him feel welcome, and he felt really good about himself when he came home from the dance because he had helped someone else."
Project SUCCESS has also received national recognition. In July, Wolf and five children attended a White House reception — with President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell — honoring its "Excellence in Service." And this Thursday, Feb. 21, it will receive a $7,500 Washington Redskins All-Star Award for community service.
Wolf says nondisabled students initially come to the program to get their community-service hours, but 90 percent of them stay long after receiving them. And many then go into careers working with special-ed children.
"Now, my son goes ice skating, to the movies and to McDonald's with the nondisabled kids," said Wolf. "I tell these kids, 'Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one, small gesture, you can change a person's life.'"