A beautiful friendship has grown between two Bucks County neighbors. One is St. Joseph/St. Robert School (SJR), a pre-K through eighth grade Catholic school in Warrington, and the other is The Next Step (TNS), a 10-year-old Doylestown nonprofit organization serving young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
The friendship started about three years ago when members of the SJR community were looking for new service projects for its Student Service Corps. They realized that TNS, located only about six miles away, would make a perfect community service partner.
The TNS program bridges the gap between high school and adulthood for young adults with IDD.
Through its many classes, support services, social groups and partnerships with local businesses, TNS has worked with more than 1,000 IDD young adults, helping them to find meaningful employment, develop independent living skills, build lasting friendships, and gain a sense of belonging within their communities.
The TNS mission resonated with the SJR community, meshing well with the school’s own Catholic mission focused on living fully Jesus’ message of love, courage and compassion.
This school year SJR students helped to enhance TNS social programs by hosting a dress-down day that fundraised $650, and collecting donations including basketballs, soccer balls, painting supplies, food and gift cards to various retailers.
A group of five student representatives from the SJR Service Corps delivered these donations to TNS on Feb. 26 and were given a tour of the facility by some of the IDD young adults.
Reflecting on the tour, eighth grader Kylie said she gained “a new perspective” of how TNS “helps young adults to become more independent.”
Lynette, also in eighth grade, said the experience “warmed her heart” because she could see how the donations are “going to somewhere that can really help people in the future.”
Another eighth grader, Hannah, said she felt excited as the many donations were handed to the IDD young adults, and she could “meet all the people we’ve been helping” over the course of the last three years.
For the first service project in 2023, SJR held a dress-down day to raise money for a TNS sensory room, an environment that creates experiences with light, sound and touch for IDD people, helping them feel a greater sense of calm and comfort.
To kick off the project, TNS co-founder and Executive Director Joshua Fields came to the school and spoke with SJR students, educating them more about the essential work done by his organization to help IDD young adults.
Members of the Next Step (TNS) at St. Joseph/St. Robert’s Sock Hop dance party. (Photo: The Next Step)
Then in 2024, SJR held a Sock Hop dance party in the school gymnasium during Catholic Schools’ Week, benefitting TNS. Students collected coins in jars and raised $2,000, which was presented in the form of a check for TNS at the dance.
Everyone dressed in 1950s style outfits and danced the night away at the event called “Making Change Worth Dancing About.”
“The whole gymnasium was filled,” said Kathleen Williamson, SJR director of advancement. “It was unbelievable.”
“We’re friends,” Williamson said of the relationship that developed these last three years between SJR and TNS. “We’ve developed this community outreach relationship.”
Principal Jennifer Durkin describes the TNS program as “a wonderful model of being a cheerful giver, of serving with a cheerful heart, and Josh Fields is such a wonderful model of servant leadership.”
Going forward, SJR hopes to continue its support as TNS embarks on a bold new initiative that will develop a safe and supportive space where IDD adults can live in affordable apartment units, work in businesses that are a part of the same complex and have access to support services.
“It’s so important as a school community that our students get a chance to identify with individuals who have differences,” said Williamson.
She says SJR students have learned to “recognize and respect” those living with challenges, and they have also witnessed firsthand the positive impact of their fundraising and service within their community.
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