New Lakewood Ranch YMCA program soars

When East County residents Kathy and Jerry Wolfe took in Kathy's 47-year-old cousin Jeff Ahlers in December 2016, they weren’t sure what to expect.

They knew they loved him.

But they had never cared for anyone with Down syndrome.

Away from his home in West Virginia, Ahlers wasn’t socializing and he had become less active. His health had begun to deteriorate and Kathy Wolfe decided she would find a program to get him healthier.

He had grieved the death of his mother, Linda Ahlers, long enough.

“He was sleeping all day,” said Wolfe, who lives off Upper Manatee River Road. “He worked when he was in West Virginia. He took the bus to work, would pack his own lunch and visit (shops where he lived). We didn’t have any of those options.”

In January, Ahlers enrolled in the Manatee County YMCA’s new SOAR (Special Organized Adult Recreation) program, a year-round social and recreational program for adults with special needs and ability levels. The program, which includes arts and crafts, socializing, life skills and fitness, was first piloted in 2016 in Parrish.

The YMCA made it permanent in January, expanding offerings in Parrish and starting the program from scratch in Lakewood Ranch. It runs from noon to 4 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays in Parrish and Tuesdays and Thursdays in Lakewood Ranch.

“Jeff is very social. There were people there he could talk to and relate to,” Wolfe said. “He kept saying he wanted to go every day. He just loved it.”

Lakewood Ranch’s Jane Vorchheimer has also seen a change in her 30-year-old son, Brett, who suffered a traumatic brain injury while skiing when he was 17. The program gives him an outlet to exercise — he runs about 10 miles per day and also enjoys swimming — and has helped him overcome mild depression.

“I know he’s in a place that’s safe, and I don’t have to worry about anything,” Jane Vorchheimer said. “They take good care of him. He’s happy. It’s been a great thing for me, too.”

YMCA Marketing and Communications Director Crystal Rothhaar said the YMCA started the SOAR program to fulfill a gap in services.

“The Y is always looking for needs in the community,” Rothhaar said.

SOAR Program Director Pauline Ledsom loves working with the participants and said it has been amazing to see the changes. She started full time as SOAR’s director in January, after volunteering with the program in Parrish.

Ledsom said Parrish’s Timmy  Aderson was nonverbal for two years. In the past week he has started talking and engaging with other participants. During a group stretching exercise, he went from sitting in a chair alone to stretching on the floor with the rest of the class for the first time in two years.

“It’s seeing improvements like that, as simple as they are,” Ledsom said. “It’s all the things we take for granted. I go home every day and my heart is full — seeing what they get from it.”

Ledsom said SOAR still has plenty of space for participants, with more than 20 slots remaining at the Lakewood Ranch branch and another 10 or so available at the Parrish branch. The program also can use volunteers who help with various activities and provide one-on-one interactions with participants.