Innisfree Village
MSA students volunteered at Innisfree Village in Crozet, Virginia on Wednesday during Service Day hours. Innisfree Village is a voluntary community with adults with intellectual disabilities. It is dedicated to providing a lifesharing home and work environment in an atmosphere of beauty, warmth, and respectfulness. All community members are valued, and all are encouraged to explore and contribute to a meaningful and challenging life.
Fourteen students planned a variety of activities and rotated through them with Innisfree residents.
Service group leader, Jenette Reyes, commented: “Our students represented us well with the spirit of service, kindness, and giving. This visit along with their plans for the co-workers were highly anticipated. I was told by one coworker that my students deserved golden stars and extra credit because they were so great. A parent of a coworker informed me that his daughter had been looking forward to it since she met us. They want us to come again and make it annual event.”
The students planned out four rotations—music, crafts, sports, and snack—ahead of time. They divided into groups and by interest and need.
Ms. Reyes remarked: “Today they executed the stations so well. It was a smashing success. I was so proud of them.”
The Innisfree Village service opportunity is one of dozens of service groups at MSA. Service to the community through partnerships with local non-profits is a core value of the Miller School of Albemarle, where volunteerism is substantive and focused on long-term engagement rather than a simple accumulation of hours. This is accomplished through bi-weekly service days in which every MSA student participates, with many students maintaining sustained partnerships with local non-profit organizations and engaging in service activities that benefit a wide range of Albemarle County residents. At the beginning of each school year, students are assigned to an on- or off-campus service group that they will work with throughout the year, allowing for long-term involvement and investment.
