WALKER, Mich. — Sitting in her wheelchair, 28-year-old Lindsey Shinaver is getting ready to make a masterpiece. In front of her, a caretaker at Enriched Living has arranged six crayons in the order of the rainbow so Lindsey knows what color she's using. She reaches for the red one first, and carefully feels the paper in front of her. The texture lets her know where she's already colored.
Lindsey has loved coloring ever since she was a kid. It calms her. She still does it as an adult, despite the fact that she can't see what she's coloring.
"I was born at 24 weeks premature, so my mom had me after five months of being pregnant, and my retinas were already detached at birth," Lindsey said.
Her condition is called retinopathy of prematurity. Lindsey has had several surgeries over her lifetime to try and save her vision. But when she was 21 years old, she started to notice she was going completely blind. Today, she only has light perception in her left eye.
For Lindsey, one of the worst parts of the whole experience was potentially losing one of her favorite hobbies.
"I never thought that I was going to be able to color again, and people were telling me 'You're never going to be able to color again.' And it broke me, but I just got out my crayons one day and said "Watch me." And if it's scribbling one day, that's fine. That scribbling became little pieces of art. And mistakes aren't mistakes. They're happy accidents," Lindsey said, quoting artist Bob Ross, who she loves.
Lindsey remembers how to make hearts and flowers, so she lets her hands do the work. It's not always perfect, and that's okay.
"I don't really care what people think about my art, or what I do wrong. It doesn't matter to them. I'm not here for them. I'm here for myself, and to be the greatest version of myself. I truly believe that God put me on this earth for a purpose, and I know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing," she said.
Lindsey has big dreams. She's found a community at Toastmasters Grandville, where she's learning to be a motivational speaker. Recently she received a ribbon for a speech that she gave. She also wants to author books for children and for adults. One story she has in the works features a girl named Lindsey who lost her eyesight and put her crayons away, until her crayons wrote her a letter begging her to use them again.
Lindsey lives at Enriched Living in Walker, and the staff at the adult foster care home is committed to helping her reach her goals. They say that's what sets them apart from similar organizations.
"We like to go above and beyond for our residents, so not just giving the minimum care. We like to give the premium care, which is making sure that Lindsey has all the opportunities that she dreams of, whether that's her going to the Toastmasters, or her wanting to go to specific art classes, or if she wants to go to a special concert that's going to be a Van Andel Arena. Whatever those opportunities are, we strive our very best to get there to make those happen, and not a lot of 'AFCs' do that," said executive director Laurie Labie.
"Our homes are beautiful. They're in beautiful neighborhoods. Residents get to decorate their rooms. Lindsey gets to have her cat items and all the things that she loves to make it her home, because it is her home. And we're just here to guide, assist, and help, and support her towards where she's wanting to end up."
Laurie said another thing that makes Enriched Living special is who they choose to serve.
"We tend to work with individuals that nobody wants to work with, so we have some of the hardest residents that people have turned down or said no to. And in turn, I say yes. It's a challenge to me. I want to work with them to be able to give them the best life," she said.
"A lot of them have come from pretty bad situations, so we wanted to step up and allow them second chances or opportunities that they would never be able to have. We've had a great success rate with it."
Lindsey said she's happy to call Enriched Living her home.
"I love it. I really like Travis and the staff. They really push me to work on my goals. They always encourage me to go farther than I did the day before. They're always happy with me singing and my public speaking. They always love when I color residents pictures, or anything I do. They're just so impressed by it. This is the first group home I've truly ever felt safe in, so that really means a lot," she said.
Enriched Living's goal for 2024 is to buy a wheelchair accessible van for residents like Lindsey. Right now, they use Go Bus for transportation but that comes with scheduling limitations and having their own van would help Enriched Living with flexibility. That way, they can work around the busy schedules of their residents.
If you'd like to help Enriched Living buy their van, they'll be holding their "Keep It Moving" golf scramble at Boulder Creek Golf Club on August 2. Registration for that event is expected to begin in May. In the meantime, you can donate through their website. You can also follow their Facebook page for updates.
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