August 14, 2000

IN THE CANDLE SHOP at Breckenridge Village, residents insert wicks in molds before pouring wax to form votive candles.

Successes small but significant at Breckenridge
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___TYLER--Dwight Evans doesn't have the same kind of success stories to tell as the heads of other Texas Baptist ministries.
___He can't tell you about graduates who have gone on to become doctors or lawyers or missionaries. He can't tell you about hundreds of people being won to faith in Christ and baptized. He can't even talk about a large number of graduates.
___But he can tell you about lives that have been changed and still are being changed: Lives of parents who have struggled for years with a burden few others understand. Lives of adults who are still treated like children and may never have spent a night away from home before.
___At Breckenridge Village, success is found in small things: Todd learned to brush his teeth today, or Sue made her bed today.
___Evans is administrator of Breckenridge Village, perhaps the most unique human welfare ministry supported by Texas Baptists. In fact, Breckenridge Village is one of only a few facilities of its kind anywhere in the United States.
___Breckenridge Village, a ministry of Baptist Child and Family Service of San Antonio, is a community for adults with mild to moderate mental disabilities. It is not a group home, nor is it a mental hospital. Rather, it is more like a children's home environment for adults.
___The campus includes six homes, each of which can house eight residents and two houseparents. Each resident has a private room and shares a bathroom with one housemate.
___Each brick home is beautifully decorated and furnished and includes a large living room, dining room and kitchen. Residents eat breakfast and dinner together in the homes and eat lunch as a large group in the nearby administration building.
___The entire campus was built by Texas Baptist Men volunteers--the largest volunteer

RESIDENTS arrange candles in boxes before delivery to sales points.

building project ever attempted by Baptists in Texas.
___In addition to the six large brick homes, the campus includes administrative offices, a chapel, exercise room, large classroom and a shop where residents make candles that are sold in local stores.
___Breckenridge Village candles are sold in the local Wal-Mart and in area Brookshire grocery stores. Some are sold in jars with dried petals from Tyler roses in the lids.
___Working in the candle shop gives meaning and value to the residents, Evans said. They enjoy the work, and they are thrilled to get paid at the end of each week, he added.
___Through this and other aspects of the Breckenridge program, residents are taught they can contribute to society.
___"The biggest thing we can do is teach them to give back," Evans said, noting the easiest way to deal with mentally disabled adults is to do everything for them and not expect anything in return.
___But enabling them through simple tasks such as candle making or teaching them self-care has a revolutionary effect on their outlook, he said. "All the sudden they're not looking inward, they're looking outward. We have a tendency to disable people more than they are.
___"Maybe they have a physical problem, but remove that and they're like us. It's hard to grow when you're not given room to grow."
___Teaching servanthood is a recurring theme at the village, which is why residents engage in a variety of service projects, including helping deliver Meals on Wheels food to shut-ins once a week.
___Evans acknowledges that not all Breckenridge Village residents are mentally or physically able to learn and do some of the things others can do. That's why the daily program at the village has two tracks, one providing simple job opportunities in the candle shop and an adjacent blackberry farm and another providing instruction in basic life skills.
___The work of Breckenridge Village is staff-intensive, Evans said. But the Baptist ministry has been fortunate to employ compassionate Christian people who excel at these difficult jobs, he added.
___In addition to the daily routine, houseparents often take residents out bowling, shopping or to see movies. Each house functions as much like a family as possible.
___One of these houseparents is Bill Orr, who has a 33-year-old mentally disabled daughter living in another home on campus.
___A former pastor, Orr and his wife previously worked with another home for mentally disabled adults near Houston.
___Learning about Breckenridge Village was a godsend, he said. "We felt the difference in the spirit of the place when we first came here."
___Breckenridge Village "suited our need perfectly," Orr said, noting their daughter "has the opportunity to live an independent life as much as possible and still have the security of being cared for."
___Also, he and his wife now carry a much lighter burden knowing that should they die before their daughter dies, she will be taken care of at Breckenridge Village, Orr said.
___This is a huge fear among parents of mentally disabled children, he explained. "Most of the parents of handicapped children have no hope for the future."
___Evans agreed, telling about a speaking engagement in a Texas Baptist church that opened his eyes to the urgent need Breckenridge Village is filling.
___After he spoke, the mother of a mentally disabled adult child came to talk with him. "I hope the day before I die, my child dies," she said.
___Evans, a missionary kid who has a degree in accounting, was shocked by the woman's death wish for her child. But suddenly he understood the desperate fear in which she and others like her live.
___As the parent of a mentally disabled child, "you never really see the light at the end of the tunnel," he explained. "This creates a tremendous burden and fear."
___That understanding was shared by Jean Breckenridge, a member of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler who donated the 85 acres on which the village now sits. Her son Jimmy is among the village's residents.
___"You have lifted the weight of the world from my shoulders in knowing that Jimmy and others will have a Christian, caring home for the rest of their lives," she wrote in a promotional brochure. "Many, many other parents will share that feeling."
___Through financial help from Texas Baptists, Breckenridge Village has been able to open its doors to families regardless of their ability to pay their own way fully. A majority of the current residents receive scholarships toward their monthly fees.
___Since it opened two years ago, the village has been slowly adding new residents. Because of the family nature of the community, new residents are added one at a time to give everyone time to adjust.
___However, the village still has about 15 openings, and Evans wants to make sure all Texas Baptist families with mentally disabled adult children know about the facility. Residents don't have to be from Baptist families, but many are.
___For more information about Breckenridge Village, call Evans at (800) 237-0234 or e-mail the agency at bvtyler@ballistic.com. The Breckenridge Village website address is www.breckenridgevillage.com.
___

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