Executive Director and Founder: Stephen "Doc" Hunsley SOAR answers the 3 main questions that every family with a child with a disability has! 1. Will my child ever be able to provide for themself? 2. Who will take care of my child after I'm gone? 3. Who will take care of me as a parent/caregiver? SOAR answers all 3 of these questions with our current and future programming. SOAR offers respite to families with special needs on a monthly basis, a summer day camp, an annual Wonderfully Made Disability Conference, and church/organization consulting for disabilities. All programs are open to anyone in the community with needs. SOARly Needed R&R (Refuel and Refresh) - Respite night
• This is a monthly respite program for parents who have children with special needs and their siblings. This program is offered monthly on Friday night &/or Saturday. Parents can enjoy a break while leaving their children in the loving care of responsible volunteers. We know that every parent needs an occasional break from the 24-hour, 7-day-a-week care of their special needs child. This allows the parents or caregivers a chance to go out, shop, or just relax, enjoying some much-needed time to themselves. During this time, the children will enjoy crafts, movies, games, and other fun and awesome activities. This program is FREE and is open to anyone who has a need. Our volunteers will love your child and families in a safe and secure environment. Our staff of volunteers will include medical doctors, registered nurses, physical therapists, special-ed teachers, assistants/aides, and many more loving supporters for your family. All volunteers have been thoroughly screened with background checks.
• This program is also open to siblings (birth-8th grade). All parents of a child with special needs know that the siblings of that child do not have a “normal” life, and may miss out on some special events because of the greater need of the sibling. We provide opportunities for kids to connect with their peers and share their unique journey in a safe and secure environment. This evening we will also focus on making a special evening for the sibling which will be fun, exciting, and a night that they can do “normal” things.
• Registration is required for this program and space is limited. SOAR Special Needs Summer Day Camp
Every summer, SOAR offers the SOAR Special Needs Day Camp. This weeklong camp, held at Grace Church’s South Overland Park Campus, Abundant Life Church in Lee's Summit, and Antioch Bible Baptist Church in Gladstone, is offered every July for individuals with special needs three years old and older. We aim to accept approximately 200 campers and over 500 volunteers. SOAR Special Needs provides an invaluable camp experience to these amazing individuals at the same price as camps for neurotypical individuals. The camp is eight hours each day and we have a unique theme each year for camp. Each day consists of learning about God through worship and music, Bible stories, crafts, games, and outreach. They will also enjoy sensory rooms and great food and snacks. We provide our campers with a top-tier camp experience, complete with exciting activities. We will create a large water slide, allowing our individuals that use wheelchairs to go down in a raft with the support of a volunteer, focusing on their ability to have fun and not on their disability. Every camper will have an assigned buddy with them for the entire week and we will provide a full medical team and behavioral team to offer assistance and support to the camper and their buddy. Through the week of camp, our campers will learn that they are fearfully and wonderfully made and that God loves them and so does SOAR! The cost of the camp is intended to cover all of the expenses with meals, camp T-shirts, and supplies for rotations. We also offer a virtual camp at the beginning of June that is open to the entire globe to participate. We encourage churches to join us with their Special Needs or Disability Ministries! Wonderfully Made Conference
The Wonderfully Made Conference is a national disability conference that SOAR hosts in Kansas City every October. This conference has two tracks: families with special needs and special needs/disability ministry in churches. Through this conference, we will spend time together with families, ministry leaders, teachers, and professionals dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with special needs. We will have four keynote speakers, over 50 speakers from all over the country, and this year we are expecting 400 attendees from across North America! The theme for the conference is to provide “Strength for Today, Hope for Tomorrow!” That is our prayer - for every attendee to know that they have the strength to make it through whatever they are facing today, and more importantly, they have hope to face tomorrow! We offer vendor tables and sponsorships for the conference and have a registration fee as well. All money raised for this conference completely covers the cost of the conference. Any additional funds leftover from conference registrations is used as a “grant” to support the SOAR Summer Camp, which will allow us to offset the cost of the camp for the families the following year. We also look forward to creating a “tour” of mini-conferences in key cities throughout the country as well, so travel expenses and distance do not prevent individuals from attending the conference. In 2021, the conference was held virtually and we now offer a VIP subscription with year-long access to ALL conference material as well as new monthly talks for the family track and ministry tracks. You can register for this at www.wonderfullymadekc.com. Moving forward, we will offer both an in-person conference in the greater Kansas City area and a virtual option for our attendees. Free Church and Special Needs/Disability Ministry Consultation
SOAR also is vital in assisting and training other churches as they start and develop special needs ministries. We strongly believe that the Church needs to be a place of refuge where families with special needs feel welcomed, cared for, and loved. According to a study by Erik Carter, only 11% of evangelical churches in the United States are offering special needs ministry. SOAR believes that this number is unacceptable. Special Needs/Disability Ministry is no longer an elective for churches, it is now a requirement! Our vision is to assist 1000 churches in starting a disability ministry over the next five years. To date, SOAR has already assisted over 400 churches and organizations throughout the United States, Canada, Belize, Brazil, Kenya, Rwanda, Japan, the Middle East, and Jericho in doing special needs ministry. We provide resources and training to help churches welcome all families and individuals with disabilities into their church community and ministry. This includes one on one training and personal consulting with church leadership. Our consultation can also be in person if the church desires, as long as travel expenses are covered; there would be no further cost to the churches or organizations. Money should not be an impediment to ministry. Once we launch a special needs ministry in a church, we will encourage them to network with other churches in their area. SOAR created and oversees the Kansas City Special Needs Ministry Network, which meets monthly and consists of about 95 churches. These monthly network meetings, which local ministry leaders attend, consist of problem-solving and assisting one another in ministry. Doc Hunsley oversees and does all of the consulting and training of other churches, again as a full-time volunteer employee. It is the policy of SOAR Special Needs to accept and minister to all families and participants with special needs and not to discriminate with regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability.
