Spreading the Light of Disability Inclusion to Help Communities Shine: A Conversation with Cheryl Williams
In April 2022, A.WARE’s now Director of Operations Finn, and Lead Digital Editor, Syndey, had the opportunity to speak to Cheryl Williams. Cheryl is the founder and executive director of The Shine Project Foundation, as well as a special education teacher.
Sydney: I’m Sydney, I work in TOS (The Open Sketchbook) which is the blog portion of A.WARE Foundation where we interview lots of cool and interesting people who are doing things out in the community that are analogous to our mission of creating inclusive arts programs for people of all abilities.
Finn: I’m Finn; I’m part of the programs team here at A.WARE. I’m a program assistant, so I help out with the programs that we lead for arts for people of all abilities.
Sydney: Cheryl, would you start off by telling us a bit about yourself and The Shine Project Foundation and how and when it all started?
Cheryl: My name is Cheryl Williams; I’m the founder and executive director of The Shine Project Foundation. The Shine Project Foundation is a local Carlsbad California nonprofit that is very small that began in 2014 prior to a big sabbatical. I am a special education teacher for the Oceanside Unified School District, and my husband and I (he is also a teacher) decided to take a leave of absence and travel down to Costa Rica, through Mexico and Central America. We decided to also start a nonprofit, The Shine Project Foundation, in order to get funds and supplies for children and ultimately figure out where the special needs community was in Costa Rica and elsewhere and give them opportunities to have inclusive enrichment events.
We did our first beach fun day in Avellanas, Costa Rica in the summer of 2015, and when we returned to Carlsbad, we decided to continue our mission of partnering with local businesses to provide free enrichment events to special needs families. I ended up contacting local organizations such as music schools and surf schools and anything that would provide some kind of enrichment. We partnered and we started a Shine Discovery Camp which ran for one week during the school year that following year. We gave children with special needs (primarily in grade school) the opportunity to explore singing, dancing, and music. We then gave them the opportunity to use what they learned at the end of the week by performing for their parents. That was a week-long event; we also turned it into a one-time event where we partnered with other organizations and provided hands-on art activities and gave [the children] an opportunity to showcase their talents. We also enlisted the talents of other individuals with special needs to perform.
We also enlisted local organizations to come and share their programs and services for families with special needs. Over the course of seven years, we’ve provided ongoing enrichment events, and inclusive community partnerships to be able to have these free events for children, teens, and young adults with special needs. We provide ways for families to connect, find resources, and access their communities.
Finn: Wow, that’s amazing! Seeing that you’ve been doing this for quite some time, can you tell us about what’s keeping you motivated and what inspired you to want to work with families with diverse abilities and needs?
Cheryl: I am a special education teacher; I’ve been teaching for 21 years. I teach students that have moderate to severe disabilities and interestingly, I fell in love with working with this population. I ended up starting as a mild/moderate instructional aide, and that was kind of my route as I was going through my schooling credential program. I came to find a huge love and passion working with students with these significant needs and challenges.
Today, what continues to drive me is I really enjoy seeing children with special needs, seeing young adults have the opportunity to shine, hence the name, “The Shine Project Foundation.” I would say our special needs population is an underserved population, and we forget that they should also have access to be able to have all the opportunities that typical children, teens, and young adults should have. They should be able to have the opportunity to connect and feel a part of their community, as well as their families. The families and parents are working nonstop all day all night, with probably not much support in terms of getting respite. Our organization and our volunteers that serve on these events give them the opportunity to just sit back, see their child shine, and the impact when they get to shine ripples into the community. It’s really touching; it’s really special.
Finn: Oh, I see. I think it’s also very neat how the sun is shining on you as you’re talking about helping children and the community shine! Cheryl, in the beginning you said that this nonprofit is quite small, but obviously you’re making a very very big impact, so how did you go about making community connections and spreading the word about your events to families with diverse abilities and needs?
Cheryl: Being a special education teacher, I had access to the families. It was a direct path into the line of the special needs community. As far as businesses, I am pretty much the sole person that does everything. I teach full time, but this is my passion project. I enlist my family to do the groundwork, and I also enlist volunteers, but primarily it’s me walking to a store or business, introducing myself, telling them what our vision is, what our mission is, or messaging people on social media saying “Hi,” this is who I am, this is what we are, and we feel like you might be a good fit to be able to help our community shine. It’s really grassroots. I spend a lot of time just knocking on doors, introducing myself, and putting myself out there. I know it’s a slow process, but I feel like the connections that we’re making are organic, and I’m fine with that because with each event that we have and each opportunity to meet families, they themselves spread the word. They realize how much these events benefit not only their children, but also typical families and the rest of their community.
Sydney: Awesome. I guess that kind of answers our next question which is “What is your experience reaching out to and securing support from sponsors?” You just talked about knocking on doors and being organic in that way by making face to face connections. So, what was one of your biggest hardships or barriers in your journey of getting The Shine Project Foundation to where it is today?
Cheryl: I would say time. I teach full time; I also have teenagers and I’m married, so it always has been and still is today that my time is divided. I don’t want to let something like this go to the wayside. We’ve created such a special thing within the local community that I don’t need to rush or jump into things or force things. I just feel like in time, whenever that perfect timing is, I will have the opportunity to switch from teaching to doing the nonprofit full time. I kind of have a time frame, and I’m actually working with a great small business to help nonprofit folks, such as myself, to make those steps forward so that we can generate more awareness, funding, support, and ultimately make a bigger impact within the community.
Finn: Amazing! I know that you’re contributing a lot to this nonprofit, but have there been any other very big supporters in helping develop The Shine Project Foundation into a thriving organization?
Cheryl: [The organization operations] are just kind of word of mouth. In the last couple years, we’ve had a little bit more of bigger sponsors and financial donations, but again it’s really knocking on doors and telling people all about what our mission is. It’s very helpful at this moment to have professionals that have the expertise of being able to make those bigger connections with those sponsors, individuals, and companies that really want to do philanthropic connections and work.
Sydney: When you’re setting up these events, what kind of specific considerations do you make with regards to accessibility when planning an inclusive event for people of diverse abilities?
Cheryl: I really just keep in mind the venue; the venue is huge. For example, our first event was a beach fun day so we really keep in mind that we will have a wide range of abilities and needs. So the venue itself, is it geared toward having that access? Once we consider a venue that is the most appropriate, we really consider the activity that is planned and diversifying it so that all needs are met. It’s also being able to educate our volunteers so they are understanding. A lot of our volunteers have never worked with any individuals with special needs, especially our guests that are more impacted, maybe physically or behaviorally. We really just cover the bases in terms of venue and actual access, and the activities that we do. We make sure everyone can feel comfortable, both volunteers and our guests.
Finn: Okay, Amazing! For something more personal about the programs, what new insights have you gained with regards to making events accessible for people of all abilities that you did not have when you first started The Shine Project Foundation?
Cheryl: I guess the insight that I have gained is that there should be every opportunity to create something more often; it should be something that happens within communities all the time. When you think about special events within a community like a movie night or a family restaurant night, understanding and wanting to reach out to local business associations and leaders within the community to ask, how is that accessible to our families with special needs? Yes, we have ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) but that doesn’t give access to those families because a lot of times families don’t even have the opportunity or feel comfortable leaving their house because of the needs that they have for their children. It’s not always easy to go and enjoy a meal downtown or in a restaurant, or go take a walk by the beach because their child’s going to run off, or it’s too overstimulating. The insight that I’ve gained is that I think with education, awareness, and really taking the time to present this information to our local community, we can create accessibility.
Sydney: I really like what you said about the ADA and how sometimes it’s not enough for a lot of people to truly feel comfortable. I like the way you talked about how creating a community movement towards acceptance is very important in order for people to feel socially included.
Cheryl: Exactly! That’s huge.
Sydney: So, what has been your most rewarding memory in all of your history working on the shine project foundation?
Cheryl: Probably the first event we had in Costa Rica. Culturally, it’s a whole separate ball game. We’re in a third world country, do they even recognize individuals with special needs? I know culturally, a lot of times those individuals kind of end up being neglected. Their needs never get met, which creates a lot of broken families. Because it’s a rural impoverished country, having access to any kind of therapy is not even an option. I connected with a local church; I asked if there were special needs families, and I told them my vision which was to have a beach fun day. We’d get kids on surfboards, get these families to the beach, get them a catered lunch, and just let them enjoy the beach, have fun in the sun, relax, and have the opportunity to shine. I met a woman whose son has Down syndrome. I expressed to her what I wanted to do, and she said “We’ve been wanting to do something like this within our community but we never really had someone or the means to put it all together.” I said, “let’s make it happen.” I was able to rally a lot of the community members to get on board and plan this event. We got a bus that went to pick up these families who had never left their home, never had services, and had never been to the beach. We brought them there, put them on the water, put them on surfboards, and we just played and relaxed. We gave them a good meal and connected with them; we got to know them as people. Because I work with special needs students, I always witness the joy that they share. What was really even more joyful was seeing the impact that they gave to other people and the people that came out of the woodwork to be able to volunteer. I would say most people had never ever worked with anyone with disabilities. When they witnessed the joy, smiles, and energy that these kids experienced by being in the ocean and being free with the sun on their faces, they themselves lit up. It’s kind of circular. When you give joy, that expands and it comes back to you. That was really significant and that really is what keeps me going in terms of making more things happen, letting more people shine, and getting more communities involved so that people understand, so there’s awareness and access. It’s really just about education, building awareness and connection, and showing people the importance of compassion and understanding.
Finn: Okay, I see. Our last question is actually very much related to how you just talked about how you want to keep things going. You want to keep making activities happen and you want accessibility to keep being the case with these programs. So, what are your hopes and visions for the future of The Shine Project Foundation, say, in five years, or ten years?
Cheryl: Ultimately, in five years, I would love to do this full time. I’ve been teaching so long but I would truly love to put all my heart and soul into these events, starting within the community that I work with, that I currently live in, which is Carlsbad, California, and ultimately making it a Shine community partner, meaning that over the course of five years, we would have created a certification program to be able to say, “This community, these businesses, offer a level of access and inclusivity because they have met certain requirements.” So, I want to research and connect with families to find out what they need from their community, and create a template with which a community can be inclusive. That would be pretty amazing to have my city be the first Shine community. From there, we would continue to partner with local businesses to create fun, enriching events. I’m actually working on partnering with another woman who has a child with special needs, a young adult; we’re hoping to establish a church that offers access for special needs families. We’d create a church that welcomes all abilities, which, ultimately, is what church stands for. It’s to have access and be open and welcoming to all people. That means including our special needs families; it should be a place of refuge, respite, and support for them, but that has not been the case. We need awareness, support, and people who have expertise to be able to come in and train these churches and other organizations, businesses, and establishments to say, yes, it can be possible. Access can be made with the right supports and accommodations. Ultimately, I would love to do that. I’ve always had a dream to have a summer camp for children with special needs; I feel like it’s going to happen in my lifetime. It would be really cool to have the opportunity for families to go on vacation and have that kind of summer camp experience with everything under the sun, from art, to music, to sports, to leadership, to cooking, really anything that fills your soul. I’d want to create a camp where families could go together or go separately, but have the opportunity to have a camp for our families with special needs.
Sydney: Awesome. When you said something about having local businesses, and maybe the whole city of Carlsbad, make a commitment towards accessibility, it got me thinking about some things that I’ve actually seen going on in the UK and Ireland. They’ll have a certain business, museum, or other establishment certified as “autism-friendly.” I thought that was kind of similar. I thought it’s pretty cool that a lot of people have these same ideas.
Cheryl: That’s really amazing to hear that other countries have adopted the idea of making their business inclusive and creating access for individuals with special needs.
Sydney: Yeah. The national autism advocacy group in Ireland is called AsIAm. A little town of just over 4,000 people has been awarded certification by AsIAm as Ireland’s first autism-friendly city.
Cheryl: I love it! That is amazing. That’s what I would love to do for Carlsbad, then make my way through San Diego and ultimately make San Diego a certified community. The guy who does my insurance asked me if I’ve ever considered reaching out to Vrbo and AirBnBs to offer them ways that they can be accessible for families with special needs that want to travel, and create a resource list of places to go and things to do for a child with special needs.
Finn: Oooh, that’s amazing! You’re giving them a lot more resources.
Cheryl: Yeah! It’s more incentive to go and travel and know that when I go to this new city, I have ten places that would be awesome for my children to go to.
Sydney: Yeah, that would be so much fun. Thank you so much for sitting down with us and having this little chat; it’s been really amazing.
Cheryl: Thank you for the opportunity.
Finn: Yeah! No problem.
