CREATIVE ENRICHMENT CENTER

“ A GEORGIA COLLEGE AND LIFE ENRICHMENT CENTER COLLABORATION EDUCATING COLLEGE

STUDENTS IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT GENERATIONAL CHANGE THAT POSITIVELY IMPACTS THE FUTURE
OF SERVICES FOR ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES!”
 Partnership for Change
◦ The Life Enrichment Center (LEC) envisions a day when the community
embraces individuals with intellectual “disAbilities” (I/DD) for their
commonalities, not differences.
◦ Located in Milledgeville, GA, a rural town with a population of about 19,000
with 24% living below the poverty level, the LEC is working diligently to
overcome the stigma associated with being the home of one of the nation’s
largest institutions, Central State Hospital (over 11,000 patients in the 1960s).
◦ Georgia College (GC) partnerships have been the catalyst that has brought
opportunities for educational growth and social change to not only individuals
with (I/DD) and the students involved, but also the community at large. These
partnerships have grown over the past 18 years.
◦ Together we seek to make a generation of change and empowerment for
individuals with (I/DD)- one student at a time.
 Georgia College ENGAGE
◦ Georgia College is a nationally preeminent public liberal arts university where a
practical education meets life-altering, real-world experiences.
◦ At Georgia College, students and faculty are encouraged to partner with
community groups to address mutually identified needs and to promote public well-
being through teaching, learning, scholarship, and outreach.
◦ ENGAGE supports development of Community-based Engaged Learning (C-bEL)
experiences for students in the classroom and beyond. Through C-bEL experiences,
Georgia College students address community issues and needs in partnership with
community organizations…
◦ Students integrate theory and practice.
◦ Students have direct experiences in community settings.
◦ Students participate in mutually beneficial partnerships with community
organizations.
◦ Students critically reflect on their community-based experiences.
 Creative Enrichment Center (CEC)
◦ The CEC, a grant funded program designed to provide meaningful social enrichment
opportunities to underserved individuals with Developmental Disabilities (I/DDs) living in
Baldwin and surrounding counties. Co-funded by the AWS Foundation and the GC
office of ENGAGE
◦ ENGAGE Goals and Objectives:
◦ To provide sustainability to the Creative Enrichment Center, an after hour program that
provides meaningful community leisure activities, service projects, health & wellness
learning opportunities, self- advocacy, self- awareness and self- expression activities for
individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD).
◦ To positively impact and educate the students to become advocates and leaders in
the field of disabilities by providing opportunities for engagement through CEC and
orientation to working with adults with (I/DD).
◦ To provide (I/DD) awareness training to students on a variety of topics including:
inclusion, diversity, social role valorization, health, wellness and the effects of aging.
◦ To provide students with hands on experience in planning, facilitating and evaluating
events, projects and critical reflection.
 Multiple LEC/CEC ENGAGE Partners

◦GC1Y- Representations of Ability and Disability

◦Department of Creative Arts Therapies
◦The GIVE Center
◦Department of Communication
◦Best Buddies
◦Dept. of Health & Human Performance
◦Kappa Alpha Fraternity
 GC Learning Outcomes for Students
Critical Reflections are customized to meet the academic
learning outcomes from each department. These include:

◦ Self-report through progress notes both group and individual

◦ Pre and post questionnaires/surveys
◦ Journals and or logs
◦ Debriefing exercises
◦ Video reflection interviews
◦ Moments and memories captured thru digital media
◦ Reflection papers
 Learning Outcomes for Students
Integrative Learning is customized to meet the academic learning
outcomes from each department.
Examples:
Creative Arts Therapy
◦ Students will apply theoretical concepts pertaining to adults with (I/DD) and music
therapy for practical application in the CEC.
GC1Y
◦ Students will meet weekly and learn …Differences are a natural part of human
variation.
◦ Students will learn that much like gender and race, disability is also socially
constructed. While physical and mental impairments are real, the meanings we
attach to those differences change across social and cultural contexts and time
periods. Students will learn through their engagement in CEC that textbook
definitions of IDD are only good in textbooks. Each person with IDD is an individual.
 Learning Outcomes for Students
Diverse Perspectives:
◦ Students will recognize cultural and developmental differences in people and respond
with dignity and respect.

Public Good:
◦ Students will complete a journal of experiences, growth and concern.
◦ MT Students will lead a performance for the public with the CEC participants.
◦ Students will create art pieces and informational literature bringing awareness of various
disabilities associated with (I/DD).
Orientation at GIVE Center:
◦ Certified to serve program: background check, volunteerism and GIVE Pulse.
◦ Disability Awareness: Diversity, People First Language, HIPPA, I/DD, CEC.
◦ Take a pre-survey to determine where they are on disability awareness.
◦ Event planning training.
 Education is the Pathway to Change
Students Need to…
◦ Gain awareness of adults with I/DD and how to support them.
◦ Learn that disability is a form of diversity (disability is the often forgotten form
of diversity when we talk about disability).
◦ Learn and appreciate the diversity that people with I/DD bring to the world.
◦ Self-realization- to ensure that the next generation is more supportive of
people with disabilities for diversity.
◦ By exposing these students to a variety of opportunities of social
engagement we can one by one positively impact their perceptions of
individuals with I/DD, thus eventually changing the mindset of a future
generation that will go out and impact their own communities’ perceptions.
◦ This program allows the LEC to use GC students as a catalyst in helping to
educate the world about the abilities of disabilities and to see that …
“We are all more alike than different”
 Benefits to Adults with I/DD
◦ Social enrichment, self-expression opportunities to be fully-engaged in the
community with college students from diverse majors and geographic areas.
We recognize that happiness and quality of life are pursuits for all of us.

◦ Peer models (language/communication, behavior, skills in activities, how to be

a community citizen)

◦ Meaningful relationships and experiences within small groups so students can

engage one-on-one. Within small groups, students will be in a non-threatening
environment in which they will be more likely to take risks.

◦ Catalyst to change perspectives of disability for generations to come, locally

and globally.
LEC and GC Collaborations
Creative Enrichment Center (CEC)
CEC Events
GC Athletic Training Practicum
Exercise Science & Public Health
GC Creative and Performing Arts
GC Creative Arts Therapies
GC Collaborations
GC1Y Class
GC1Y: Creative Enrichment Center
Field of Fun
◦ https://vimeo.com/265560789
Best Buddies: Special Olympics, Night to Shine, Disability Awareness
 Mass Communication
◦ Black and White Gallery
◦ Creative Expressions
GC GIVE Center-Alternative Fall Break
Brunswick, GA