Good Works Podcast S2 EP2 - The Whole Person

Audio-Reader's Communications & Listener Services Coordinator Martha Kehr speaks with Kirby Hough and Bayleigh Walker from The Whole Person.

The Whole Person connects people with disabilities to the resources they need by supporting independent choice and advocating for positive change in the community. The Whole Person envisions a fully accessible community where opportunities and choices are not limited by disability.

Episode Transcript

Martha Kehr: Welcome to Good Works in the Heartland podcast, where we celebrate the organizations and individuals who are improving the lives of others throughout Kansas, Missouri and the Midwest. In each episode we focus on one community group, nonprofit or social service organization that provides essential services to those in needs, enriching lives and connecting communities across the Midwest.

On today's episode,we are talking with Kirby Huff and Bayleigh Walker of The Whole Person, whose mission is to connect people with disabilities to the resources they need, by supporting independent choice and advocating for positive change in the community. So Kirby and Bayleigh, let's get started with you introducing yourselves and telling us what you do for the organization.

Bayleigh Walker: Hi, my name is Bayleigh Walker, and I'm the adaptive sports and recreation coordinator for the whole person. So I plan and organize all of our sports and activities that we do throughout the year. I also help with various fundraisers. and really kind of, I help with anything that that anyone needs here.

Kirby Hough: And I'm Kirby Hough. I'm the blind and low vision specialist here at the whole person. So I work with our blind and low vision consumers. We have a few support groups, and we also plan regular activities for that. for those consumers. I also help with our fundraising events.

MK: Great. Well, thank you again for coming today. And let's get into the organization. So will you tell us more about the mission and how the events you plan support that mission.

BW: Yeah. So, like you had said, you know, we're connecting people with disabilities to the resources they need. So mostly, I mean, for the most part, when a consumer comes to us, they're either looking for something specific, or they're looking for a variety, or sometimes they just have heard about us and want to know what we can do for them.

And so, really, we have a very wide variety of services that we provide. and that includes advocacy. We also have employment services. We can help someone go through the process of getting a job and help them make maintain that job. We also have youth services and living skills. peer support. We offer housing services. We help with social security and benefits enrollment, home health care, personal care. Really anything that you can think of, we either offer it or help to find who does and always are helping to connect people to whatever it is that they're needing.

And so we have, you know, for the most part a lot of our consumers either come into to our building and our offices and meet with their case workers. Or you know, we go out to them and help them. And then, in the case of Kirby and I, we get to go out and do all the fun activities. So we get to go out and, you know, ride bikes and do all kinds of other activities. So really, a broad variety and we're able to offer anything that you can think of really.

MK: Wonderful. So, what are some of the biggest challenges that you face our biggest challenges?

KH: right now, are, you know, getting our consumers to participate and our activities that we're planning. I think everyone's just a little still in the Covid mindset where people are just having a hard time, maybe leaving their houses, or, you know, wanting to communicate with others.

I would say, and the other biggest issue we have, of course, is transportation. you know. Most of our consumers have disabilities where they're unable to drive. You know, like myself. I have low vision, and I'm not able to drive, so I already understand the struggle of transportation. But when trying to get, you know, individuals from Olatha, and then North Kansas City, it just makes it difficult to try for us to to get to go all over to pick up people, so that's something that we've really been working on here lately.

MK: Yes, that leads me to a question of what is your service area and how far out do you go?

KH: Well, our service area is pretty much Kansas City, Metro and Kansas. So we have an office, and in Kansas City, Kansas. We have an office in St. Joe, and then we have our office in midtown Kansas City, so I mean, we can help anybody honestly.

BW: Yeah, the counties. I guess that we serve would be Clay, Cass, Jackson, Johnson, Wyandotte, and Leavenworth counties. We just expanded our Kansas office to include Johnson, Wyandotte and Leavenworth. So you know, we have 6 counties, and then plus St. Joe, that's a a pretty big area.

MK: Yeah, very big, and spreads out all over the city. Yeah, I can see how that's a challenge. Do you want to talk more about the locations and which what the different locations offer? How are they different?

KH: So our Kansas City Missouri office is our biggest location. we offer, you know, all the services that we've discussed. our Kansas City, Kansas. Location in Wyandotte County is probably our smallest but you know we are in the process of, each of us are like from our core services. Each person from that department is taking the opportunity to go to that office, seeing what their needs are, and then also working on getting the resources we need for the individuals in that county. The St. Joe office...

BW: They, I believe that they mostly are focused on kind of the health and those social security and benefits enrollment. I think they they're mostly helping with, you know, getting things going. They don't have the sports or the independent living kind of that we do here. It's something that we're hoping to expand for sure, and with expanding our Kansas City Kansas office, luckily it's not far from our Missouri office. So we're able to, yeah, kind of do both. I'm getting sports started in both locations. And you know, luckily, we've been able to kind of just double-team stuff, and we're close enough that we can just combine things.

MK: And so at your locations then, you have a lot of your events are virtual, but some are hybrid, so can you talk about which ones are in person and which location those in-person events are?

KH: Sure. So, a lot of our our group peer meetings are done via zoom just because most of the time, that's a lot easier for folks, especially when we have this transportation issue. And so we provide both. I'm sorry, some of the meetings are both. You can come in person or you can use the zoom link and join that way. But for my low vision services, you know we have a few things that we do regularly monthly and that are in person. For example, our bowling, our monthly bowling that you guys joined us last month with is done in person, of course. But then, like I said, the support groups are typically done via zoom. And then I'd say for Bailey's that would probably be it more in person, because there are more activities, more sports related where you have to be in person.

BW: Yeah, we do offer a lot of like, our living skills and employment services are primarily in person. Then the youth services or social events are in person mostly. We're trying to get people to get out, be social and be around each other and and embrace that that community.

MK: Yeah. So the sports are something I don't know as much about. Can you talk about, you have a track and field day, and you've done tandem biking. What are those like? And what are some of the other ones?

BW: Yeah. So our tandem biking is with Kirby's blind, low vision group. We've done it one time now, and we're planning on the next one, hoping that can become something that we do very regular. And then track and field, so we're working on developing a team right now. It's totally open. Anyone who has a disability that wants to participate is more than welcome to come, and practices are every Tuesday evening. So far we've got about 5 or 6 participants, and some of them are already ready to go compete. We're going to compete in Oklahoma City in a couple of months. And so we're excited about that, and to keep building that team, and luckily that's been a place of interest, so we've been able to get the equipment we need.

We also just hosted a boccia clinic. And so boccia is very similar to bocce ball, but all of the participants are people who use wheelchairs. It's pretty exciting, actually this weekend is the boccia regional tournament at Blue Valley High School, and so we're excited to go out there and and watch. We don't have anyone participating in this tournament, but we do have some participants ready to play in July.

But it's cool. We've been able to start some programs that we haven't had before and then we're continuing our wheelchair tennis program. We're gonna have archery. Really, just trying to expand and make sure that we cover all kinds of sports, because, you know, not everyone wants to go out and wheel around a track or throw heavy things. So we're trying to open it up to all kinds of sports for all kinds of abilities.

MK: Great. And now the track and field it takes place in the Blue Valley Middle School, is that right?

BW: Yes, track is every Tuesday at 6:30pm at Blue Valley Middle School, and it's open to anyone with any kind of disability. Luckily, with track, they have so many classifications in so many events that really, everyone can find something that they enjoy doing

MK: Fantastic. How long have you both been with The Whole Person?

BW: I started near the end of January.

KH: and I started the beginning of February. So we're both pretty new to the organization, all right.

MK: So I guess in the short time you've been there, what are some of the big successes you've had, and what are you hoping to - I guess you've talked some of that - but some of them are the things you're hoping to expand on?

KH: I think some of the big successes is you know when we have people come in off the street and like, don't have any resources, or, are just in the very beginning, maybe they're trying to move out on their own and trying to find employment. It's such a good feeling, once we're done with that meeting, and we've given them so many resources and the excitement that they have, for you know, some of these people have just experienced vision loss. So everything's new to them. It's like a whole new world of learning how to be independent, how to find employment, and most importantly, how to, you know, live independently on your own.

So once we are able to connect these resources with these individuals, and just the excitement they you can hear on their voice, their spirits are lifted once you kind of give these resources. And so they realize that there's there's people out there that want to help them. So like, I said, it's just a good feeling.

I feel like too, once our consumers are around the other people that that you know, share maybe the same disability or just a disability in general. You know, once they're around each other, it it's just uplifting to see that connection made as well.

BW: I think, for the adaptive sports program specifically, I feel like my success within the last couple of months has been in the connections we're making. I think part of increasing participation will come with proper promoting, and I'll be honest having cool stuff really helps. So since I started in January, we've purchased a lot of cool stuff. So much equipment. I'm in the process of ordering uniforms. I played college basketball, and I can tell you that having cool stuff helps.

So that's been something I've been really excited to do and get, and being able to to tell my track athletes that, "hey, I've ordered the uniforms" you know, they're really excited, and it makes them want to participate. And you have more fun. And so through that, you know, not just ordering the cool stuff. But we're making lots of connections. We've talked with UMKC about some connections there and ways to collaborate.

And so as we build this community of partners who want to work with us and help grow, it's really just increasing all the possibilities that we have from our adaptive sports standpoint. It's just really awesome to see kind of how many people in the community want to get involved, both individuals and organizations. And so that's kind of been, to me, the main success is that we're able to get people more connected, and people want to collaborate. And it's just, gonna you know, make it grow and grow and grow. And I know that the increase in participants will come. And so, just being able to do what we can and make everything as cool as we can, has been really awesome and really fun. And it's exciting to see other people getting excited about it.

MK: Yeah, everyone wants to be part of a team. So the uniforms, I'm sure will be an exciting addition. And yeah, I feel like the healing from Covid is connecting. So I yeah, it's wonderful. Every step you can take in the right direction.

So that kind of leads us to: what can the public do to help you with these missions?

BW: Yeah. So a big part of it is, you know, donations of any kind are appreciated. Getting involved with events that we host. We had our planting independence day where we helped some of our consumers, we helped clean up their yards. And that's completely done by volunteers. And so, you know, volunteering to help with that is always really helpful.

But then also we've got coming up in June we have a pickle ball and cornhole tournament. So that's a great way for people in the community to get involved and come out and play. We're gonna have some of our other sports equipment for people to see and kind of try out and understand what it would be like to be a wheelchair racer. And so that's a great community event that we have

But then, also, you know, interacting with our social media. We have a Facebook and an Instagram. Both of those are @TheWholePerson. And so yeah, interacting: follow us, like, share. You know, the usual. That's always helpful for us to help circulate our information, and we really appreciate that.

MK: So when is your pickle ball and cornhole?

BW: Yes, the Big Dill Classic pickle ball and cornhole tournament is June 4th.

KH: It's on a Sunday.

BW: It's Sunday evening. It's 5:30pm.

MK: All right!

BW: And so on our Facebook page there is a little flyer with a QR code, and that takes you to the registration page.

MK: Okay. And so the next question, let's go over those. Your website is thewholeperson.org and the Facebook . . .what is the Facebook address?

BW: Both our Facebook and Instagram are TheWholePerson. So it's facebook.com/thewholeperson, Instagram is the same as well, just @thewholeperson.

MK: Okay.

KH: And then under The Whole Person there are like, subgroups. So I have a blind and low vision group and I post all of our events and activities in that as well.

MK: Wonderful.

KH: And I believe there's one for adoptive sport.

BW: Yes, we do have an adaptive sports page. It is about to get a nice reboot as I'm really trying to increase our our reach, and our social media and promoting everything to the best of our ability.

If anyone is wanting to get involved in helping people with disabilities or supporting in any way, now is the time. We have big things coming. The Whole Person is just gonna keep growing, and I encourage everyone to jump on the boat now! Because, you know, we're only going up from here, and things are just going to get bigger and better, and it's going to be a great ride. And we're really excited to keep growing and keep, you know, increasing our participants and how many people we can reach and service. And so, yeah, I mean following us and staying with us and staying connected to us is just a great opportunity. And and we hope that everyone continues to follow us in this big journey.

KH: And another cool feature that we have on our website is our calendar. So if you go and click on the calendar on our website, it has all of our events coming up, and so that's a good way to stay connected with knowing, being in the know.

MK: And we also do link your community calendar through the Audio-Reader website at reader.ku.edu, under our community events.

KH: Oh, okay, great.

MK: We do try to have those posted for our listeners as well. So that's another place to access the calendar. 

BW: And we do have on our website, there's multiple tabs of the different services. And so, you know, if you go to the adaptive sports page, there's gonna be all the info and what's coming up, and then my contact info is on that page as well.

MK: All right. Well, wonderful. So June 4th is the day! Everyone who wants to do pickleball and cornhole, which I've heard of, cornwall is getting more and more popular all the time.

BW: It is.

MK: All the time, and pickleball as well. It's a lot of fun.

BW: Yes.

MK: So folks who don't have disabilities, how could they get involved? Such as caregivers, supporters, and advocates for people with disabilities?

BW: Yeah. So we do have health services, home health and personal care. So you know, we do have the opportunity for CNA or CPAs to work with us and with our consumers and ways to kind of help with our home health services. so that is a great opportunity for someone who does not have a disability but has a health background. They can get involved in that way.

KH: And of course there's always volunteer opportunities here. So if people just want to volunteer their time, at either one of our events or in our activities, it gives you a chance to meet some new people and learn as well

MK: Perfect. And I guess one more question I just thought of is like, let's say you're someone who is just coming about a disability, they've just lost their vision or something. Where would they so maybe start at the whole person?

KH: Well, with the with vision loss, we would just we would connect them with some resources that are already available. So rehabilitation services for the blind is typically where I refer people who are in the first steps. As they can help with education they can help with equipment, they'll train you on the equipment, and they also have employment services. So they've got a whole slew of services to offer. That's a great starting point for Missouri residents.

MK: How would that be for Kansas residents?

KH: So for Kansas, we would just connect them with - each county has their own set of resources. So it just depends on the county. Then we can we connect them with the resource for that county.

BW: Yeah, and I would say that it's the same for anyone with any other kind of disability, you know, just getting a contact person here. Setting up someone here to be a case coordinator for you, and kind of just seeing what services you're needing. Maybe you don't need employment or living skills, and you're just looking for some home healthcare. Or maybe you just need help getting your taxes filed. That's something that we just assess what the needs are, and then we go ahead and and hook you up with everything that's needed.

MK: So another thing we would like to mention that is a good partnership between the two of us is our audio description services. So we do have our Starlight Series coming up. So, Starlight has 7 Broadway shows for their summer series, and we will have audio description, and at least one performance for each of those. So that'll be a fun partnership, maybe we can find a way to make that work for your consumers and our listeners as well.

KH: Yeah, absolutely.

BW: Another great way to kind of get involved, and not necessarily with us directly, but with the disabled community in general is to just educate yourself. Learn as much as you can about any disability, or, you know, just keeping in mind that for the most part, if you're a person without a disability, and you've never been involved with the disabled community, then you probably don't have any clue what that's like. So getting, you know, educating yourself, looking up as much information as you want.

And then, you know, it's really important to advocate. I know that before I was helping in a special education classroom, before that, I never noticed if a building didn't have a wheelchair ramp. But now I'm you know, very much involved. And I notice everything like that. There's not a wheelchair ramp or you know, any time someone you know sends an email, Kirby needs it to be able to adapt to for her to see it. And you know, so advocating for things to be more accessible is really important. We do have. Someone here who advocates on the law making side of it. She goes to the capital, and. and, you know fights for those disabled rights and all of that, but for the general public just getting educated, and advocating, and being involved, being an an ally and an advocate is, is really a great way to be involved.

MK: That's a wonderful reminder. We can all be advocates and allies.

KH: Absolutely

MK: Wonderful. All right. Well, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.

KH: Well, thanks, Nick and Martha, for having us on the show, and also thanks again for joining us blind bowling last month. we appreciate your services and can't wait to spread them throughout our organization as well.

BW: Yeah, absolutely thank you guys so much for having us.

MK: And hopefully, we'll see you bowling again soon. It's that word Parkway Lanes, and it's a great time for everyone.

So that's it for this edition of Good Works in the Heartland podcast. If you'd like to learn more about The Whole Person and other organizations like this, be sure to join the Good Works in the Heartland Facebook group which you can find at facebook.com/groups/goodworkspodcast and that's where we'll be posting updates and upcoming episodes, as well as information about our featured guests.

So join us on the next podcast where we'll be talking with another organization, doing good works in the heartland.

I'm Martha Kerr. This episode was produced by Nick Carswell. Thank you for joining us.