WOODBINE, Ga. — A Camden County mom created a safe space for adults with disabilities after seeing her son struggle to find a place where he belongs.
Marcia Whitfield said her son, Jackson, is more than her son who lives with autism; he's the inspiration behind her nonprofit Special Steps. It's a free community program for special needs adults she created after Jackson graduated high school.
“When they graduate, what do they do? And sadly when I started researching, and talking and networking, a lot of them just sit on couches,” Whitfield explained.
To get Jackson out of sitting alone in their house, Special Steps started its journey around the track.
“When we started, there were three, and two were my kids,” Whitfield said.
The walking club has now grown into a full-activity program, hosting 40 adults with disabilities each day.
Relying on volunteers like Laura Brendle to come twice a week, all to help give each participant something to look forward to on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"She recognized that need of other people who had children with special needs," Brendle mentioned.
Marcia created a space not only for her sons, but other people like Peyton Wright to feel like they belong.
"Special Steps is great for people with autism," Wright told First Coast News.
“Whatever their disability is, it doesn’t stop them from being worthy of a community. And so outside of these doors, I bring them that community as much as I can,” added Whitfield.
Cultivating a community for her son, for herself with other caregivers and teaching everyone that the path of living with a disability is not one you walk alone.
“In the beginning, we were taking literal steps, now I feel like we are taking important steps in life,” Whitfield said.
Giving her son Jackson people who will always walk beside him.
Whitfield invites other adults with disabilities to take part in Special Steps. There is no cost and they meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Evergreen Baptist Church.