Statement of Purpose

I am an Interdisciplinary Studies Major, individual designing my course of study. My concentration is Non-profit development and learning the skills and abilities one must have in order to create an organization. I aspire to make a non-profit that give positive influences to children and adults with disabilities, as well as, helping parents learn the skills needed to have a child with disabilities. The question I am working towards is "How can I educate the surrounding population about the different disabilities while at the same time developing more opportunities for the disabled population to succeed and grow?" The organization I would like to create is going to be called Yahweh’s World (Come and you are, Be who you Be) and be a refuge for people to come. There are four parts to the program. Part one will be a life skills program set up for the adults in the area. This will give them a chance to work on skills such as setting the table, counting change and using cleaning supplies. There are a good percentage of people who could live in a group home or even with a group of friends, if they had extra training and practice. Part two will be a summer camp. Counselors will have a child with disabilities and a child without disabilities. The counselor will be responsible for facilitating growth between campers to teach love and acceptance at a younger age. Part three will be a mentorship program set up in a similar way to the camp where the Big Sibling will have two younger ones. This will occur throughout the year, and the requirements will be to do at least 3 hours of service as a group each month. I believe that the best way to be accepted into a community is to give back to it. Part four will be a support network for the parents of the organization. This will be a chance for them to get out and have fun, as well as, learn skills as a parent, and be able to talk to each other to get tips and encouragement.

In order to be able to create this organization I need to be skilled in a lot of different areas. I decided to major in IDS because it gave me the chance to do that. I have taken classes such as Communication in Organizations and Public Speaking in the Communication Department which helped develop my ability to speak in front of large groups, as well as, understand how people interact within a group. I have taken Careers in non-profit in order to understand the tasks and basis of a non-profit organizations. I am in the process of getting a minor in sociology and have taken Social Problems in America. Through this department I have gained an understanding of the problems in our society and also how to make a step towards progress. I have also been taking Special Education classes since that is the target population for the organization.

This is important to me and enables me to make a difference in the community. There is a lack in programs for the disabled population and also a lack in education about the different development issues. This is something I feel called to and I would like to make a change in how our society treats and views disabilities, IDS is giving me the chance to.