Meet Taku and his mother, Anu Srivastava
Participants in Specially Adapted Resource Clubs (SPARC)
SPARC (Specially Adapted Resources Centers) is located in Northern Virginia and engages with participants who have severe and multiple disabilities with high medical needs, are not able to work, and require one-on-one care for all daily living activities. Some participants are blind, paraplegic, or non speaking.
Which leads us to SPARC participant Taku and his mom Anu.
Taku is non speaking, so Anu helped share his story. She says he loves the flexibility of the program, which allows him to adhere more to his schedule. He is also fond of all the people he has met at SPARC. Anu says his face lights up every time they head to SPARC because he knows he’s going to a place where he is included, accepted, and has many friends.
Anu emphasized how SPARC is different from other therapeutic day programs because they allow Taku to have a personal support attendant with him at all times. “The high attendant-to-attendee ratio at other facilities concerned [my husband and me], as it posed a risk to Taku's safety and meant he wouldn't receive the attention he needed.”
Running an organization like SPARC requires a lot of money and an exceptional staff. Google sponsored a Gratitude Gala for SPARC in 2023 to help raise funds to hire a full-time program director and to keep costs low for participants. Debi Alexander, SPARC’s executive director, is grateful to organizations like Google for their support. “There are few people who want to underwrite and support adults with severe disabilities — and these people deserve funding.”
Every day Taku receives love and acceptance from his family and from his friends and program staff at SPARC. And that makes him a pretty happy guy.
Which leads us to SPARC participant Taku and his mom Anu.
Taku is non speaking, so Anu helped share his story. She says he loves the flexibility of the program, which allows him to adhere more to his schedule. He is also fond of all the people he has met at SPARC. Anu says his face lights up every time they head to SPARC because he knows he’s going to a place where he is included, accepted, and has many friends.
Anu emphasized how SPARC is different from other therapeutic day programs because they allow Taku to have a personal support attendant with him at all times. “The high attendant-to-attendee ratio at other facilities concerned [my husband and me], as it posed a risk to Taku's safety and meant he wouldn't receive the attention he needed.”
Running an organization like SPARC requires a lot of money and an exceptional staff. Google sponsored a Gratitude Gala for SPARC in 2023 to help raise funds to hire a full-time program director and to keep costs low for participants. Debi Alexander, SPARC’s executive director, is grateful to organizations like Google for their support. “There are few people who want to underwrite and support adults with severe disabilities — and these people deserve funding.”
Every day Taku receives love and acceptance from his family and from his friends and program staff at SPARC. And that makes him a pretty happy guy.
The teachers are so caring and go out of their way to ensure every member of the club has an inclusive experience. Empathy, compassion, patience, and flexibility all come to mind when I think of the qualities each and every staff member has.
My husband and I are inspired to be more involved in SPARC. We celebrate some of the major Hindu festivals with our SPARC family, and it warms our hearts to see the response we get.
— ANU SRIVASTAVA
