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| Ribbon cutting ceremony for the San Antonio Clubhouse site on the BT Campus. |
San Antonio Clubhouse is the newest
member of the Baptist Temple Campus family of churches and service
organizations that meet the spiritual and physical needs of our
community. SA Clubhouse is a self-help program where adults with
mental health conditions can volunteer, learn, and grow. The Baptist
Temple site is a satellite of the main campus and will be open on
Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Founded in 2003, The SA Clubhouse
serves as a model of success for people living with mental illness by
promoting life skills, job skills, employment, wellness, recreation,
connections to resources and healthy meals. Executive Director Mark
Stoeltje reports, “Ninety one percent of clubhouse members reported
a reduced need for psychiatric intervention and 84 percent reported
fewer run-ins with law enforcement.”
Baptist Temple's efforts at serving
people with special needs began in 2009 when a Texas Baptist
representative called Pastor Jorge Zayasbazan and asked if they would
host a Deaf congregation. Pastor Zayasbazan enthusiastically
answered, “Yes! It's an answer to our prayers.”
The result of that call has been FamilyDeaf Church worshiping in American Sign Language on the Baptist
Temple Campus for ten years. They not only serve the Deaf and
hard-of-hearing community but, also, their hearing family members.
Family Deaf Church is the only Baptist church in San Antonio that is
centered around Deaf Culture.
John Richey, pastor of Family Deaf
Church said, “The Deaf are a distinct culture with its own
challenges. They have common needs that are best understood in their
own context. That requires more than an interpreted service.”
Baptist Temple continues to find ways
to provide services to people on the margins. They are now in the
process of developing an inclusive playground so children with
disabilities can play with their friends of typical abilities. Play
is an important part of every child's development. It helps develop
social, physical and problem solving skills. However, children with
disabilities often lack places to play. This is especially true in
the Southside of San Antonio; an area declared to be a very low
opportunity area for children (according to DiversityDataKids.org.)
Inclusive playgrounds allow children of
different ability levels to play together. They can inspire mutual
understanding, friendships, and a real sense of community. Children
who learn to play with children of all ability levels will be better
prepared for a diverse work environment. This will be the first
inclusive playground on the Southside open to the community.
Baptist Temple has already raised 80%
of their funding goal through a combination of donations,
fund-raisers and grants from the Baptist Health Foundation and the
Charity Ball Association. They seek to raise another $24,000 this
Fall. Donations can be made online at www.mybtsa.org
or mailed to Baptist Temple, 901 E. Drexel, San Antonio, TX 78210.
