The HALI Project

To contact us:

806.352.5647

info@thehaliproject.org

 

Who We Are...

Sometimes I feel the need to share our credentials in order to gain credibility. Albeit abnormal, the greatest credential I have is the shared experience with my wife Karen of parenting two children, one of them being a 20-year-old with special needs. We have experienced first hand the disappointments, frustrations, and shattered dreams that the families of special needs children often experience. However, it would be unfair to our children to say that our life has been all hard. We have also very much enjoyed the incredible blessings Hali and Justin have brought to our lives. These blessings have an even greater impact on us, because we have experienced them as a family.

 

Our life experience has brought a much sharper focus to the psychological and counseling training that most would see as actual credentials to do this work. However, we feel like it’s the ‘real life” experience that takes our service out of the textbooks and makes it relevant to the every day lives of individuals with special needs and the families, schools, and communities that serve them.

 

We feel that the two most important tools we bring to our work are things we did not learn in school. These crucial elements are faith and laughter. We have been extremely blessed as we have worked through the challenges of Hali’s life to see her as a blessing from God – exactly as she is. He has used her to teach us and many others the most important lessons in life, those of unconditional love, trust, and courage. WE believe it is our job to provide her with the opportunities she needs to reach the potential she has inside. We want to be faithful to that mission, and we want to help other like-minded families in the process.

 

In spite of her struggles, Hali brings joy and laughter to almost every situation (the one exception being when its time to work!) We look forward to the opportunity to share that joy and laughter with you on your journey.

 

 

THE PROJECT

 

The HALI Project was established in 1999 for the purpose of serving families of children with special needs in the Texas Panhandle. Since that beginning over ten years ago, we have been blessed to serve hundreds of families in our community with a variety of ongoing services. We have also been blessed with many opportunities to teach other family members and service providers through seminars and workshops across the country.

 

The initial work of our project was a counseling program entitled “Empowered Parents.” This program was originally offered in four schools across the Panhandle. Since that time, this work has been used to train families and service providers in over twenty-five Texas school districts. Also during the last ten years, we have been able to share the blessing of this program to those in need in California, Louisiana, and South Dakota.

 

In 2004 we wrote our second program, called “Community Voices,” using proceeds of a grant from the Developmental Disabilities Council of Texas. We have taken the foundational person skill of “Empowered Parents” and added training that these individuals – kids with special needs, family members, service providers, and community leaders – need to be effective, positive advocates. Our goal is to open doors to the community so that Hali and her friends can have full access to their communities and all of the opportunities available. We are blessed to have several partners in this effort, including the Texas Tech College of Education, Uniting Parents, and the Panhandle Independent Living Center. We believe these partners will help us in our mission to serve as many families in the Panhandle-South Region of Texas as possible.

 

Our project has also seen expansion into other areas since our beginning. Partnering with the Children’s Rehabilitation Center of Amarillo and using volunteers from the Southwest Church of Christ, we began a respite program for parents of children with special needs in 2003. “Special Kids, Special Times” provides parents a place to bring their kids and have a day to themselves. While parents are resting, shopping, etc., their kids are playing games, taking field trips, and anything else we can think of. They always go home wanted to know when the next time will be.

 

The HALI Project believes that kids like Hali have great potential to impact the world with special skills and talents. To make the most of their gifts, they need to maximize their academic and social skills. To help them, we have been privileged to work with the Continuing Education Department of West Texas A&M University to establish WTLC – Where The Learning Continues. Under the direction of Jeannie Miller, our students are able to continue to develop academic and social skills that will create better employment opportunities and a higher quality of life during adulthood.

 

With the support of the Southwest Church of Christ in Amarillo, we started our final program in 2003. “Zaccheus’ Place” gives adults with special needs an opportunity to develop the spiritual side of their life as well as provides a place to build relationships with their peers. Led by my wife Karen, our group meets at 7:00 pm on Wednesday nights at the Southwest Church of Christ building, located at 45^th and Cornell in Amarillo, Texas.