Beacons North County: Coming to the Aid of Adults with Special Needs
God comes to our rescue, as seen with the deliverance of the Israelites at the Red Sea, and God wants us to do so as well...
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I pray that God's words may be spoken and that God's words may be heard. Good morning, St. Peter's.
The Old Testament has sometimes confused me because it appears to be inconsistent with the New Testament. The Old Testament often portrays God as somewhat vengeful, if not spiteful, as compared to forgiving in the New Testament. Today's readings are no exception. In the book of Exodus, God parted the seas, Apparently, like Moana, or whatever the show's called, to allow the Israelites to escape, but then drown the Egyptians.
He did not close off their access so they could not just follow the Israelites. He killed them. And in today's psalm, his destruction is celebrated. Furthermore, in the Holy Gospel today, the non forgiving slave was turned over to be tortured until he could pay his debts. [00:01:00] The Holy Gospel continued, So my Heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.
In other words, forgive or else. This is all a little scary. This is not ask for forgiveness, and for your penance say five "our fathers" and ten Hail Marys. This is suffer the wrath of God. Now, there's always danger in reading Scripture out of context. If you take a step back and view the Old Testament and the New Testament holistically, they are quite compatible.
The Old Testament shows the wrath of God against sin with glimpses of His grace. Whereas the New Testament shows the grace of God towards sinners with glimpses of His wrath. Essentially, just two sides of the same coin. The important distinction for us to take away today is that God's wrath is not capricious.[00:02:00]
It is used against sinners and to eradicate evil. This is clear in Exodus where the Israelites have been enslaved and persecuted for 400 years. God was coming to their aid. As Mother Paige mentioned last week, portions of Exodus seem harsh. But in reality, God was rescuing the Israelites. It was an act of love.
And Exodus is really a story of deliverance and liberation.
The bottom line is that God will come to the rescue of those in need. And he wants you to do the same. And that means all people, not just some. As covered in the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, which I believe was an additional reading today at this service, some people eat everything, some people eat only vegetables, and some people eat nothing.
And by extension, some people are old, some are young, some are skinny, and some are not. [00:03:00] Some have white skin and have skin of a different color. We come in all different sizes, shapes, and colors and abilities. Do not judge or despise those who are different than you. Judging them is God's job.
We will all be accountable to God at some point. In the meantime, We should be forgiving and not judge our brothers and sisters. Essentially, love our neighbors as ourselves. And come to the aid of those in need as God did with the Israelites.
In today's social environment, there is great emphasis on equality, and many initiatives to prevent discrimination based on gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, physical disability, and sexual identity. But there is one group that is often overlooked in this quest for an egalitarian society. That is adults with intellectual disabilities. Adults with intellectual [00:04:00] disabilities are born with their disabilities, whether it be autism, down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or other disability.
They are without fault, but often discriminated against. Unemployment for this group, is generally above 80 percent with the average annual income being approximately $9, 000, which is over 30 percent below the federal poverty guideline. As a practical matter, this means that over 80 percent of these adults live with other family as they can't afford to live by themselves.
They have nothing to do all day and no feeling of purpose. You can imagine how lonely and unfulfilling that is. It is this lack of opportunity for adults with disabilities is what gave rise to Beacons North County. Beacons was founded by my wife and a few other parents to teach and train adults with disabilities to find employment, advocate for themselves, and interact with [00:05:00] the community at large. (By the way, that's my lovely wife over there, sitting next to my own fan club today.)
This program has been wildly successful. Over 85 percent of the Beacons trainees who wanted employment found it in 2022. In fact, some Beacons trainees have worked at the St. Peter's Thrift Shop. In addition, the social events Beacons holds twice per month to give these special individuals a social outlet, have almost always sold out.
The County Board of Supervisors proclaimed August 30th as Beacons North County Day to recognize their outstanding work. Beacons was also recognized as a kindness certified non profit partner by the International Kids for Peace Organization for Beacons being good to the people, community, planet, and world.
Fortunately or unfortunately, [00:06:00] Beacons has become so successful it is bursting at the seams and has had to expand three times in the last five years. Beacons is currently seeking funds to support completion of its new facility, which will allow Beacons to support even more of the 12, 000 adults with intellectual disabilities that reside in North County.
Some of these adults before coming to Beacons had sat around the house for two years during covid not doing anything. You should see their faces light up when they learn something new or accomplish a new task. It is genuinely precious. They're not looking for handouts. They want to work. They want to have a purpose.
Beacons has taught them how to look for and find a job, how to do graphic design, how to take public transportation, as most in this community do not have a driver's license, and how to start their own business and many other skills. I've seen many of these young adults thrive at Beacons and then afterwards.
It is a truly amazing [00:07:00] organization. As we learned in the readings today, do not judge or despise these individuals. Instead, love them as you would love yourself. That, of course, is a sentiment that flows throughout the Bible. In the confession of sin, we say each week, only two sins are named, not loving God with your whole heart, and not loving your neighbors as yourself.
And part of loving our neighbors as ourselves is coming to their aid, as God did for the Israelites, and so many others. I've told Mother Paige that I am probably much more conservative than she is on many issues, but I appreciate that she keeps me grounded with her perspective. Which is why I'm a little hesitant to end the sermon with a quote from President Ronald Reagan.
But it is applicable, regardless of political beliefs, and therefore I simply have to take my chances. But please let me know if she's cringing behind me. President Reagan reminded us that we can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone. [00:08:00] Thank you for allowing me to speak today, and God bless.
And now, speaking of young adults worthy of your help, my son Wesley and Ali Hayes will now say a few words. Both have been long time parishioners of St. Peter's and both have been involved with Beacons from the beginning. Allie, come on up.
Hi, my name is Allie Hayes. I would like to tell you about Beacons and what it means to me. Beacons is a special place that has helped me plan my future and realize my dreams. I'm currently an ambassador for the Explorer program. And I attended Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We have lots of fun in [00:09:00] Explorer.
Here are some examples of what we do in Explorer. Creative Design. We work on Canva to create posters for fundraisers and other copycat sales. Demonstration cards and make fun stickers. Soft skills. We practice our conversation skills by playing question games every morning. We work on retail, groceries, enrichment skills, money skills, and safety skills.
We learn business skills. Right now we are developing our very own soapbox to sell. We, uh, we have also made dog biscuits and T shirts to sell. [00:10:00] We volunteer in our community. We volunteer here at St. Peter's Thrift Shop. We also volunteer at the animal shelter and the camp store. And some of us go to painting jobs.
We do fitness every Thursday. We enjoy yoga, cardio, sports, dance, and fun games. All of my teachers guide and teach me to be the best I can be. I am so thankful that I have my Beacons team and my friends in my life. Beacons is like a home to me. Thank you for letting me show how special Beacons is to me. And thank you to [00:11:00] st. Peter's Supporting Beacons. Thank you.
So, raise your hand if you know what Beacons is. In case you did not know, Beacons is a 501c3 non profit to help people with disabilities find, find, take a bunch of jobs, learning how to create their own mood board, and also how you create your own business too.
During the pandemic, during the pandemic back in 2020,[00:12:00] people with disabilities have nowhere had, had, had nowhere to go. I mean, nowhere to go at all. And now, and now they have jobs. And paid jobs too.
So, um, since the beginning of my mom's, my mom's non profit, we've, my mom's non profit is, is expanding so much that, that starting next month, we will officially be moving, be moving into a much bigger space that is four times larger [00:13:00] than, um, than our current space, current space that we have now. Thank you.
Well, thank you. Thank you to both Wesley and Ali. That was terrific. That's the third time in two days giving this, so thank you for hanging in there. And Liam, thank you for, you spoke, I remember, at least last week you spoke, so thank you. Before I turn this back to Mother Paige, or she just turns off my microphone, I want to say thank you to her.
Thank you for sponsoring Beacons as a September outreach program. And thank you for all the other prior support. She has been a long time supporter of Beacons. And then I also want to thank her, I had the opportunity, there's a Pulpit Fiction podcast referencing your materials today. And I had the opportunity to listen to part of that.
And the very beginning of it talks about how there is a true exodus going on with the clergy [00:14:00] leaving the ministry. It's been rampant and I think Mother Paige will say a few words about that later. But I wanted to thank her for her dedication and commitment to St. Peter's she has assured us at least now two services in a row that we don't have to worry about her, but I do think She deserves a heartfelt.
Thank you on behalf of all of us. So, thank you.
About Bryan Lynch
Brian Lynch has been attending St. Peter’s for over 15 years. He is the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer of Topgolf Callaway Brands. Mr. Lynch received a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in Economics from Franklin and Marshall College. He lives in Carlsbad with his wife, Lucile, and their twin sons, Chase and Wesley, and is a parent of a Beacons member.
