The following report comes from Tiffany Solum at Living Hope Church. On May 25th, we launched our completed worship backpacks! Although we expect there to be fine tuning in the upcoming months, we are so excited for how far we have come! I received a text message during the service from a parent telling me how much the kids were loving the bags!

Instead of only allowing just individuals with special needs to utilize them, we gave all the elementary students the option of checking one out for family worship that Sunday. This was a multifaceted decision.

One, new items create buzz and children are very curious about items or tools they see others use. We want every Hope Kid to be familiar with and understand the purpose behind the backpack and how they are supporting their peers.

Two, allowing all children to utilize these tools helps parents and other volunteers become familiar with the tools and resources we have available. It allows us to have valuable conversations about supporting individual needs and what supports may be necessary.

Thirdly, we want our entire church community to buy into the belief that we all belong and we may need to utilize new and creative strategies to reach children with autism and other special needs.

Our approach worked! Alyssa was able to touch base with kids after service to inquire about the most used tools and resources. I have heard from two different families about the impact of the backpack and my daughter has already claimed a pink bag in which to keep all the items that she was already using on a weekly basis within the elementary classroom.