By Tiffany Merlo Phelps
mail@floridanewsline.com
As the saying goes, mom knows best.
Case in point: Lynn Yeager thought she wanted to go into a career in counseling after she had earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education.
“But my mom said, ‘You are not going to be good at that.’ She was right. I briefly tried it, and I was not good at it,” said Yeager, BridgeHaven Academy’s executive director.
So, she took her mom’s advice and earned her master’s degree in educational leadership, and then secured a specialist degree in exceptional education.
“I got into exceptional education because I taught gifted and talented. I started to become interested in exceptional education, and this was well before I had a son with autism,” said Yeager. “It was kind of like I was all over the place until I landed here and then everything all of a sudden made sense.”
Yeager taught at various schools before opening BridgeHaven Academy in 2016, located in Ponte Vedra Beach. Yeager’s son, Jacob Christman Yeager, was born in 2004 with autism and is non verbal. BridgeHaven was born out of necessity to provide a place for Jacob and others who wanted to communicate through typing.
BridgeHaven embraces the “facilitated communication” (FC) model in which supported typing is taught as a method of alternative communication. People whose verbal communication with others is severely impaired can express themselves through FC. BridgeHaven Academy has served 10 full time students, aged 12 and up, while also serving 25 families outside of that group with a Communication Clinic.
Now aging out of the program, the “citizens” as Yeager likes to refer to her participants, are ready for the next phase — their purpose in life. The youngest student in the program is now 18, and the program runs on the Redeemer Church campus.
That’s why Yeager has been working for two years on opening The Community Center at Bethel Point on two-and-a-half acres located at 236 North Roscoe Boulevard — to honor her son and to serve those in need.
“I wanted it to be a place for everybody,” she said, adding that Bethel means “The Lord’s Place.”
It is slated to open in spring 2025 and will be a community center serving all types of special needs adults. BridgeHaven will eventually be absorbed into the new center. Yeager emphasized that it is not an adult daycare, and all participants must function independently or with the assistance of a caregiver.
The community center is being modeled after Brookwood in Georgetown (BiG) through a replication model. It is a God-centered, vocational community that provides meaningful work, a sense of belonging, dignity and respect for adults with disabilities. Most importantly, Yeager is asking for
input from the citizens to find the best way to empower them through various enterprises such as making dog treats, candles, soap, greeting cards and wax melts. All money from these enterprises would go back into the program to make it affordable.
“Let’s find a way to honor what they are asking for and honor what they need, and also continue to help them grow,” said Yeager.
Program director Amanda O’Dwyer said it is important that the citizens can fully participate in the production of goods sold. To that end, O’Dwyer breaks down the production steps, but also offers a look at the overall goal.
“Their brains are amazing,” she said. “They need to know why. It is important to lay out a roadmap.”
Teacher Keilahi Aldrete said the citizens keep her grounded and inspired.
“It is an experience like no other. They stole my heart and won’t give it back,” she said.
The Community Center at Bethel Point, which will be fenced and gated, will also include an office, gym, work rooms, multi-purpose room, commercial kitchen and community center. The campus is designed to look residential and peaceful and much like a park. No sign will be displayed to identify the center for this reason, said Yeager.
Reverse inclusion, which brings non-disabled community members into programs where they can be paired with disabled peers, will also be a key component at the campus. For example, said Yeager, she would love to have community members use the multi-purpose room for crafting, Bible studies and more.
Above all, Yeager said she wants to serve adults with special needs while being a good community partner.
“It is our job to protect them, to find things they can do to contribute to society. That is why we came down to the idea of BiG,” said Yeager. “BiG provides that opportunity, and it provides the friendships, the community, the camaraderie, the enterprises.”
[Author’s note: A pickleball tournament fundraiser is scheduled for the fall. More details coming soon. Visit www.bignorthflorida.org for more information about the community center.
Photo courtesy Lynn Yeager
Emma Haywood and Shane Romanczuk learning cooking skills.
