Kaleidoscope Adult Day Program expands to serve more young adults with developmental disabilities, increasing support for local families

Goodwill Gulf Coast to host Ribbon Cutting opening new expansion on May 1

MOBILE, AL – Through the Kaleidoscope Adult Day Program, Goodwill Gulf Coast has served as a beacon of hope and support for adults with intellectual disabilities for over a decade. This unique program gives participants the daytime care they need to experience active, fulfilling lives while allowing their caregivers to maintain jobs outside of the home and financially support their families.

Over the past six months, the Kaleidoscope program has undergone a major expansion, doubling its physical space to serve more adults with intellectual disabilities. At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 1, Goodwill Gulf Coast will host a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the new expansion with community leaders, board members, and project donors in attendance.

“At Goodwill Gulf Coast, we are committed to creating a more inclusive, supportive community where every individual, regardless of their abilities, can lead a life of hope, dignity, and fulfillment,” Frank Harkins, President and CEO of Goodwill Gulf Coast, said. “This expansion will ensure we remain at the forefront of providing essential services to adults with intellectual disabilities in our community.”

The Kaleidoscope program serves adults ages 19 and older with intellectual disabilities such as Autism, Down’s Syndrome, and other conditions which limit their development of cognitive, emotional, and self-care skills. Since the program’s inception in 2013, Goodwill Gulf Coast has heard from a growing number of local families eager to place their adult child in the program. These caregivers long for their family member to have access to friendships, social activities and physical exercise – experiences common to typical adults. Now, with the program expansion, more participants will experience a safe, nurturing environment in which they can learn, grow, and thrive, even as their caregivers gain the freedom they need to maintain employment and the financial well-being necessary for their families.

Currently serving over 50 participants, the Kaleidoscope program offers incredible opportunities for physical, intellectual, and social growth in a manner that best fits each individual’s interests, talents, and abilities. With an extensive curriculum, planned activities, and community excursions, the Kaleidoscope program provides an array of experiences every weekday. Families enrolled in Kaleidoscope uniformly report that their loved ones experience more stable daily routines, improved sleep, better stress management, and more friendships. About 80% of participating families have caregivers who could not continue to work without Kaleidoscope serving as the care provider for their family member with disabilities.

After experiencing an increasing need in the community, Goodwill Gulf Coast determined the expansion to be an organizational priority and made plans to convert an adjacent warehouse into a new recreation area, effectively doubling the available program space inside the Ladd Building on the non-profit’s Gordon Smith campus. Also, plans were made to expand the program’s kitchen to accommodate a new cooktop, venting hood, and oven. The kitchen will serve as a training area to teach participants about kitchen safety and food preparation. While the program already had a communal activity room, a media room, a quiet room, and an arts and crafts room, the expansion will add a second large activity room as well as new exercise and game rooms.
Donors to the Kaleidoscope expansion project include the Alabama Power Foundation, The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, The Crampton Trust, The J. L. Bedsole Foundation, The Joseph Treadwell Charitable Foundation, Rogers & Willard Construction, Sam Winter & Co. Real Estate, the Sonneborn Charitable Foundation, the South Alabama Foundation for the Intellectually Disabled, and several dozen individual donors.

For more information about Kaleidoscope, or to begin the process of applying for participation, please contact Rebekah Nicholson, Kaleidoscope Program Manager, by calling (251) 375-2177 or emailing RNicholson@GoodwillGC.org. Applications will be handled on a first come, first served basis. 

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About Goodwill Gulf Coast
Since 1956, Goodwill Gulf Coast has helped people enter the workforce through skills training and placement services, and provided support programs for children, parents, and youth. Today, Goodwill Gulf Coast serves seven counties in southwest Alabama and three adjoining counties in the Florida panhandle. In FY 2023, Goodwill Gulf Coast provided over 20,000 services to 13,219 individuals: workforce development programs for over 3,200 job seekers; early childhood preparation and support for over 1,200 children and their families; and support services for over 10,000 people needing medical, financial, emergency and/or disability support. Almost 10,000 of the 13,219 people served identified as having a disability or having a family member with a disability. About 9,500 resided in Alabama and 3,700 in Florida, including people of all ages and abilities, from pre-born infants through the elderly.