Community members to start HC-based nonprofit for kids with special needs as they struggle to raise funds to send students to Camp Courageous

Ashton Jewett, 13, of Mt. Pleasant, smiles when he is at Camp Courageous, but especially when he gets to go zip lining, his mom Debbie Jewett said.

'I have a fear of heights, so to see him ziplining is just so cool,” Debbie said. 'To see him smile and have fun and the joy, it melts my heart. We look forward to going every year.”

Ashton is one student in the Mt. Pleasant Community School District (MPCSD) who gets to go to Camp Courageous each summer, a recreational facility in Monticello for people of all ages with disabilities. The district sponsors an average of 30 students every year, raising a total of $5,000 to $6,000 for students to go to the camp for three days.

Fundraising, however, proves difficult year after year. When a big donor was unable to contribute to send kids to camp this summer, community members stepped up to create their own fundraiser - and plan to continue to support sending students to Camp Courageous and assisting students with special needs and their families by creating a nonprofit.

Amanda Jarvis, instructional strategist at Mt. Pleasant Middle School, said a nonprofit for special needs students is 'hugely” needed.

Whether families with special-needs kids need to purchase a new leg brace, walker, communication device or 'any type of extra lift for the student,” it's sometimes hard to find the funding, Jarvis said.

'Our administration has been one of the strongest in the community when it comes to supporting our special needs programs, but sometimes funding isn't always there,” Jarvis said. 'An organization like this that is willing to say, ‘We got your back. We know this isn't working or funding isn't there to get that student the proper desk they need or they need new leg braces because they've grown out of them and parents are struggling.'

'Hopefully, this organization can help partner with the schools and with the families,” Jarvis continued. 'I know our families and our administration at the school district has a huge heart for the kids and they want to back them any way they possibly can.”

The Mt. Pleasant Community School District is creating a Special Olympics team this year. Jarvis said there will be some expenses to help support students as it takes off. A nonprofit could help spur community fundraising to support the MPCSD Special Olympics team.

The effort to create a nonprofit for special needs kids in Henry County is being lead by Anna Carlson, of Mt. Pleasant.

Carlson began working with students with special needs 18 years ago. She was between jobs when she answered an advertisement in the newspaper to work with a child who has autism. After going through some training and working with that child in their home, Carlson began working for the school district.

Today, Carlson continues to have a passion for working with children with special needs and their families. She attends Camp Courageous every year, accompanying Liam Christner, 9, of Wayland.

'He thrives at camp. He's very eager and energetic, loves swimming and zip lining,” Carlson said. 'The kids all get a different look on their faces when they're at camp. They're very excited, they feel free to be themselves. Kids know when other kids are different and they treat them differently. At Camp Courageous, they don't have to worry about that.”

Students are chosen by their teachers in the MPCSD to attend Camp Courageous. Jarvis said teachers choose which students get to go based on whether it will be beneficial to them.

'I teach a level of students who this is their chance to really shine,” Jarvis said. 'We work really hard as a team at Mt. Pleasant to choose which students are going to benefit.”

The school takes about five groups each year of no more than eight students each. Jarvis said adults who accompany students to Camp Courageous are not charged a fee to be there.

Fundraising for Camp Courageous is difficult and donors have dwindled throughout the years, Jarvis said.

'I'm really thankful for Anna Carlson and the group that she is working on putting together,” Jarvis said. 'Her heart is in it. She wants to be able to help these students.”

Carlson organized a Special Wine & Brew Tour in December 2018, raising over $5,000 to send students to Camp Courageous. The tour stopped at Maxwells Market in Mt. Pleasant, traveled to Wooden Wheel Vineyards & Winery in Keota, continued to Kalona Brewing Company for lunch, went down to Swisher to visit Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery, swung back over to Solon to taste Big Grove Brew Pub and finally arrived back in Mt. Pleasant at Walt's Taproom.

Tickets were $100 with 100 percent of the sales going to send special needs students in the MPCSD to Camp Courageous. Carlson plans to organize another Wine & Brew Tour this fall.

Between the Wine & Brew Tour, smaller spaghetti supper fundraisers and letters to sponsors, enough money has been raised to send students to Camp Courageous for two years and then some. Carlson wants to continue that momentum into the nonprofit.

'I do envision it being successful,” Carlson said.

Carlson accompanies students with special needs to prom every year. Last year, she reached out to community members to help pay for tux rentals and dinner.

'A lot of times families can't afford that. I can't financially do it on my own, and families with children with special needs already have some extra expenses,” Carlson said.

Generosity for seemingly smaller things like ensuring students have a good time at prom is what encourages Carlson that a nonprofit for special needs students is something Henry County residents will continue to support.

Kiley Leichty, Liam's mother, said she used to feel bad sending her son away to camp for three days. Now she feels bad when he has to come home.

Leichty thinks the idea of a nonprofit for special needs students is a good one.

'If we don't do it, I don't know who else would,” Leichty said. 'I feel a little bit guilty that I'm able to provide a lot more for my son than other parents might be able to do for their kids with special needs.”

Presenting a white swim diaper, Leichty said that because it's for special needs kids, it costs $25.

'It's not a lot of people who can afford that, especially when you add in medical bills. I want to make sure all kids get equal opportunities,” Leichty said.

Debbie Jewett, mother of 13-year-old Ashton, said she hopes a nonprofit in Henry County for kids with special needs could create more opportunities.

Debbie has to travel to Iowa City for speech therapy for Ashton and other things like sensory rooms, which she said can be 'places of Zen” for kids during their daily battles.

'I would love to see a sensory place (in Mt. Pleasant) where we could take our kids,” Debbie said. 'We're in such a small town with not a lot of opportunities.”

To donate to the Mt. Pleasant Community School District for Camp Courageous or for questions about the nonprofit, contact Anna Carlson at 319-931-0753.