By Emma Stanton, Staff Writer
For 45 years, the Special Needs Support Center (SNSC) located in White River Junction has fostered inclusivity through advocacy, education, and community programs, striving to create a world where everyone belongs. Later this month, the organization, which provides care and support to adults and children with disabilities all across the Upper Valley, will celebrate a milestone anniversary.
SNSC executive director Dr. Kendra LaRoche spoke to the Standard about its upcoming event and what the organization hopes to continue to achieve in the future.
“We began in 1979 in response to the federal government passing laws that required schools to educate individuals with disabilities — which had not been a federal requirement before that point,” LaRoche explained. “The SNSC began as an organization that was aimed at helping parents navigate this new world in which their children had rights to the public education system. It was quickly realized that those rights were not always being followed. We served as advocates for families at the time — meeting with schools and helping families receive the best care and support for their children with disabilities.”
She added, “We still do that advocacy work — that has remained a throughline since 1979, but we have done quite a bit more since then, adding a number of programs for both adults and children available five days a week. All of our programs are a part of the greater Upper Valley community. We have an art lab at the AVA Art Gallery, a music lab at the Upper Valley Music Center, and cooking classes at the local Lebanon Co-Op. We also offer camps during the times schools are not in session — April, February, July. The camps are for children with disabilities to have access to more traditional recreational activities.”
Children playing during an SNSC summer camp at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Photo provided
LaRoche went on to explain some of SNSC’s latest initiatives. “This year, we’ve partnered with Lebanon and Hartford Parks and Recreation to create a program that is open to all, funded by the respective towns, with the goal of providing our kids, who have been attending our camps for several years, with the skills necessary to go to a more traditional atmosphere — such as a swimming pool, a basketball game, or an art class,” she said. “These camps are meant for the general public; they’re meant for parents to be able to continue working when their children are not in school.”
Along with offering camps and programs for people of all ages to partake in, SNSC is also working with local establishments to ensure that places around our community are disability friendly. LaRoche said, “The Lebanon Opera House has recently finished their disability-friendly certification. Hypertherm Automation is another organization about to finish their certification, in which the company’s focus will be to hire and support those with disabilities in the workplace. It is a different avenue we wish to pursue. The goal is to fulfill our mission — to have everyone in the Upper Valley really feel like they belong in the Upper Valley; that the Upper Valley is a place of acceptance and inclusion for all people.”
LaRoche told the Standard, “I had previously been in education for over twenty years as an assistant principal for a pre-K through eighth-grade school in Vermont. I was in charge of special education and behavior there. What drew me to SNSC was their commitment to equity and belonging. I was led away from the education sector because I witnessed how much quicker nonprofits moved. Nonprofits like SNSC can see a problem within a community and have the ability to fix it.”
For the next five, ten, fifteen years, LaRoche said she hopes that SNSC continues along the path of creating understanding in the Upper Valley and working towards creating a place that is 100% disability friendly. “The goal is for the Upper Valley to become known around the country as a fantastic place to visit and bring yourself and your family members who have disabilities. There will be people and places able to accommodate whatever needs you have. We want the physical infrastructure of the Upper Valley to be steeped in accessibility, where people with disabilities feel comfortable, feel at home, and feel like they belong here. That can be achieved by targeting tourists, but also by welcoming locals into the mainstream spaces of the community. There are pockets of belonging right now, and those pockets are lovely and beautiful places. Our goal for the next ten years is for these pockets to spread, so that every place is a symbol of complete acceptance.”
SNSC will host its “public birthday party,” celebrating the organization’s 45th anniversary next week. All are welcome to attend.
“We’ll have a barbecue on Aug. 22, from 6-8 p.m. It will be a night of fun entertainment and free food for all. At the Storrs Pond Recreation Area, people can come and interact with those who have disabilities at a public event and see first-hand what proper accommodation looks like in a space as central as our local swimming spot. If people are wondering how to break down barriers, come out and have dinner with us and see SNSC’s work. Every solution here is met with collaboration and compassion. Together, we can form a community where every person belongs and where every voice matters,” LaRoche concluded.
More information can be found at snsc-uv.org.