HOLLAND, Ohio — Precious Places LLC, offers care and support services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The center's owner, Deshra Vine-Leaks, said she has seen families struggling to find opportunities for their children after high school graduation.
"They want everything that we want, is to be loved," Vine-Leaks said. "It's to be a part of something spectacular."
Tara Zientek's two daughters, Bailey and Autumn, live life to the fullest. Zientek said 23-year-old Bailey is a diva.
"Very much so," Zientek said. "Bailey is very, the hair, makeup, nails."
Her younger daughter, Autumn, 20, is drastically different.
"She is my tomboy," Zientek said. "She is the sports, and the baseball, and the football."
Both girls have Joubert syndrome and have mobility issues and need wheelchairs. Bailey also has a rare form of cerebral palsy. But Tara said neither of her girls wants to sit around, and Precious Places offers them more.
"[Bailey] cleans for an hour a day, every day she's here and she makes a little bit of money and then she spends the rest of the time hanging out with people," Zientek said. "It's given them friendship. It's given them hope, it makes them happy."
Vine-Leaks said she wants more families to have stories like the Zienteks but has noticed that there are only a handful of young adult transitional programs for them after high school.
"A lot of these families, they don't know what they're gonna do with these young adults once they graduate," Vine-Leaks said.
But she said they do want more for their kids.
"Now with technology, they're able to be afforded more opportunities, and there's not a lot available to them," Vine-Leaks said.
Knowing this, and having expanded her building, Vine-Leaks said it just made sense to launch a transitional young adult program to create more independent young adults, who also happen to have disabilities.
"Our goal is to help fine-tune those soft skills, teach them additional life skills, continue to build on the skill set they've already acquired while in high school," Vine-Leaks said.
Precious Places LLC will host an open house to talk about the new program from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on March 23.
For more information, visit preciousplacesllc.com.
