If you’d like to make Christmas morning special for an individual with an intellectual disability then local non-profit Journeys in Community Living has news for you.
Journeys' annual Heart Tree project is returning Nov. 26 to its 1130 Haley Road facility.
"If not for the Heart Tree, several individuals would have nothing to open on Christmas morning, since several of them either have no living family or other circumstances prohibit family from purchasing Christmas gifts for them,” explained Betty McNeely, Journeys' executive director.
Here’s how the Heart Tree project works:
Individuals who wish to participate visit Journeys’ Haley Road facility during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday) to grab an ornament off the tree set up in the front lobby.
Each ornament will have written on it a list of gifts, including both inexpensive items (such as socks, a hat or a DVD) and one more costly item (such as an mp3 player), that an individual supported by Journeys would like to find under his or her own tree on Christmas morning.
Participants then decide which items to purchase and then do so while finishing up their holiday shopping. Items should then be returned to Journeys fully wrapped no later than 4 p.m. Dec. 16.
Any person who would like to help make the holidays special for an individual with an intellectual disability, but who does not have time to come to our facility may still do so by making a monetary donation towards the purchase of a gift.
For more information on that, please contact Journeys in Community Living development coordinator Mark Bell at 615-890-4389, ext. 45.
Journeys in Community Living is a local nonprofit organization that is committed to supporting adults with intellectual disabilities in choosing and realizing their visions of how they want to live, work and socialize. Journeys has served individuals with intellectual disabilities since 1975, aiding them with daily living at home and work.
For more information on Journeys, please visit www.journeysincommunity.org
