Our vision is the full integration and acceptance of individuals with special needs and their families within society as well as within the church body.
Many families are isolated within their communities because of the struggles associated with a disability. Eight out of ten marriages fail when a disability arises with a child; one out of five Americans is diagnosed with some form of a disability; 85% of people with special needs do not feel welcomed by a church family. Virigniia is the 7th wealthiest, 11th largest state, yet according to UCP's 2006 - 2010 research publication, A Case for Inclusion, Virginia has bounced from 49th to 45th to 48th ranking in the country in serving people with special needs within the community.
(http://www.ucp.org/medicaid/index.cfm?thisPage=states&thisState=VA).
IHIDS.ORG
IHIDS was founded on the sensitivity of a Pastor's heart and the commitment of a mom to her son and others with special needs.
Pastor Jay Ahlemann was the founding pastor of Christian Fellowship Church in Loudoun County, Va. and The Church of the Valley in Shenandoah County.
Beth Speidel is a mom of four boys, one of whom was diagnosed with high functioning autism, central auditory processing disorder as well as a profound hearing loss in his right ear. Tristan was diagnosed at age four and this diagnosis changed the path of her life. She received a degree in Disability Studies & Advocacy and started working for a non-profit organization in New York and lead the Parent Training & Information contract for seven counties. In 2004 her family relocated back to Virginia where she became a Case Manager for Virginia's Developmental Disabilities Home & Community Based Waiver program. During her time as a case manager she realized the level of need for support and access to services within the Shenandoah Valley.
Beth knew Pastor Jay from CFC and when he started The Church of the Valley he contacted her family and they started attending regularly. The church was only a month old and they were handing out index cards asking people where they wanted to get involved and she wrote down disability ministry, not knowing the exciting and vibrant ministry he was a part of in CA. Pastor Jay followed up with her and from there In His Image was started on Sunday mornings. We have a core group of volunteers that have been trained on how to support kids with special needs. These volunteers are buddied up with these kids so that the kids are supported on Sunday mornings and mom and dad can worship without worry.
The Sunday morning program was the launching mechanism for In His Image DisAbility Services, a sister non-profit program affiliated with The Church of the Valley. We have two components, one is church integration where our goal is to serve and support people with special needs and their families on Sunday morning. The second component, separate from the church, is a community based program centered on providing services, information, facilitation and education to families and their children with special needs within the entire Shenandoah Valley region.