Warner Robins ministry helps developmentally disabled adults

WARNER ROBINS -- Faith, hope and the love of a group of mothers -- plus the help of many friends -- resulted in what's now known as Heart of Georgia Developmental Disabilities Ministries.

The ministry built and operates a personal care home for developmentally disabled adults on Hatcher Road and has hopes of building others in the future.

Spearheaded by the late Hulda Cook, the group knew in 2004 there were such homes in Warner Robins but that they had long waiting lists. The ministry knew more homes were needed.

With developmentally disabled children of their own, the people who comprised the ministry understood the concern parents have for their children's future.

"The idea of providing for their own children wasn't at the top of their minds," Judy Youmans, administrator for the ministry, said. "What they had was great compassion for families that need care."

Youmans is retired from the Houston County school system where she was a special education teacher. She taught Cook's son, Danny, for six years.

Youmans said the group of mothers started talking about the project in 2004 and began monthly meetings to inform and enlist the help of others. Momentum grew slowly. With persistence, they kept their vision alive and in 2011 opened a home for six on land owned by Central Baptist Church.

Today the house is full, and several adult children of that original group reside there.

The ministry is nondenominational, but each Sunday residents attend church services primarily at Shirley Hills Baptist where there is a special-needs class.

Napp Granade was pastor at Shirley Hills until 1996 and said during his tenure the church began special needs classes. The church was Cook's home church and was later pastored by another of her sons, Andy Cook.

Granade was an original member of the Heart of Georgia DDM group and serves on its board.

"I view it as a gift from God that he put it in Hulda Cook and the others' hearts to see this built and operating," he said. "The support and care they get is wonderful, and from the start it was begun with a distinctively Christian base. These people are loved by God and are very expressive in their love for him. They are fully welcomed as part of his church just like anyone else."

Youmans said the ministry considers itself a family rather than a business.

"We just had our annual state evaluation before Christmas and were told we had one of the best facilities around," she said. "We're very proud we can say that because we want to do our best for our residents, they're our family. Hulda would be proud. The home was named The Hulda Cook DDM Home even before she died in 2014."

Youmans said as "unofficial administrator" she helped the home get certification to open and is now considered part-time though she's on call 24/7. She said besides herself there are three full-time staff and five part-time. She said there are always staff at the home, and volunteers frequently help.

"Our residents work during the day," Youmans said. "Their home runs like other homes. They're up in the morning, get ready, have breakfast and get to work. One works at Robins Air Force Base and the others at Happy Hour Service Center. They're all very capable and wonderful residents, they just need support. There are certain things, life skills, organizational skills and other matters that are just beyond them. They wouldn't be able to have full responsibility of a home. It's very low stress here but it's a big responsibility -- I'd say a joyful responsibility. We have the best staff anybody could imagine."

Youmans said residents have chores, and each pays into to the house's operation, but additional funds still have to be raised to operate and maintain it.

"We have no state funding or big grants to keep us going," she said. "Our funds come through private donations, grants and help from churches. Our focus is funding current ministry. We depend on volunteers who donate time as well as money."

She said the home is an active place with very little sitting still by residents. She there are many activities such as birthday parties, game nights, nights out bowling and other times out to take part in community activities. She said volunteers play a role in these events and in keeping the house running.

"Just like anywhere, things break and have to be fixed, have to be maintained and there's yardwork to do." she said. "We have great volunteers but there's room for more. I dream of a retired person who'd love to take over a lot of the maintenance and that type of oversight. And we can always use donations of household and office items as well as for operating expenses."

Youmans said items are needed such as paper products for kitchen and bathrooms, cleaning, laundry and dishwashing products, and grocery items such as sugar, coffee, tea bags, canned fruit, cereals, oatmeal, grits, rice and similar foods.

"God has blessed this ministry more than I can say; he's brought people that become part of the family," she said. "We're not just a place on Hatcher Road that's all to ourselves. We reach out and others reach back. The biggest way we've been blessed is in all the relationships we have."

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.

Heart of Georgia Developmental Disabilities Ministries

Address: 238 Hatcher Road, Warner Robins

Leadership: Judy Youmans, administrator

Phone: 478-396-1773

Website: www.heartofgeorgiaddm.org

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Warner Robins ministry helps developmentally disabled adults ."