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The Beukema family of Edgerton started a nonprofit corporation earlier this year that seeks to create opportunities for families with disabilities. Pictured (l-to-r) are Scott Beukema, Ethan, Elyse, Emmet and Ryann. Contributed photo
A new nonprofit corporation called Building the Blessing seeks to create opportunities for area families with disabilities.
Ryann Beukema, of Edgerton, said it started last fall with a Facebook group and became a nonprofit corporation registered with the state of Minnesota in the spring. She said work is ongoing to make it 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
“My husband and I have kids with special needs and felt like there weren’t things in our area that were meeting those needs in terms of sports or events, sensory friendly things, just opportunities for families to get together and have some of that community piece in a caregiver story that looks a little bit different than a typical home that doesn’t deal with a kid that uses a speech device or has medical complexities or any of those kinds of things,” she said.
Beukema and her husband, Scott, have three children, ages 8, 9 and 15. She previously worked as a special education teacher at Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) and is now a program director at Rock County Opportunities, which “helps individuals with disabilities to be a part of their community, creating rewarding social connections, employment opportunities and independence,” according to its website at www.rockcountyopp.org.
One of Building the Blessing’s projects was donating a communication board to PAS to help students with nonverbal autism, such as Beukema’s son Emmet, communicate on the playground. Beukema presented information about the communication board to the school board in the Spring and told the board members that communication options were available to students who need them in the school, but not on the playground. School board members approved the donation and the communication board was installed prior to the start of this school year.
Beukema said the group has held family activities including a touch-a-truck event, bowling, swimming, music at the library and a movie. Families involved in the organization have also hosted events at their homes such as barbecues. There have also been caregiver activities such as card playing for dads, margaritas for moms, and coffee gatherings. Beukema said 10 families is about the most that have attended one of the Building the Blessing events and she communicates with around 20 to 25 caregivers on a regular basis.
The Beukema family of Edgerton started a nonprofit corporation earlier this year that seeks to create opportunities for families with disabilities. Pictured (l-to-r) are Scott Beukema, Ethan, Elyse, Emmet and Ryann. Contributed photo
Photo by Kyle Kuphal
Moving forward, Beukema said the group would like to have monthly events at which families can get together and be a resource for each other, and where their kids can hangout with friends, and be cared for by people who love them for who they are.
She said the name Building the Blessing came from people calling her a unicorn, a term used to describe someone who is unique or rare. What makes her unique and rare are her different perspectives on disability — as a mother of a child with disabilities, an educator and paraprofessional, training as part of applied behavior analysis therapy and involvement with Partners in Policymaking through the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. A group of unicorns is called a blessing and she is trying to build a group of people who have similar experiences.
“I know that I am not the only person who lives this life and feels like it’s hard and beautiful and great,” Beukema said. “We don’t have any of those things in our area, so it’s going to take some unicorns to make it really really great, and I know that they’re here.”
For more information, visit the Building the Blessing Facebook page.