Rotary Club donates special needs communication kits

Members of the Wayne Rotary Club and staff of the Family Resource
Center of the Wayne Westland schools present bags with tools fornon-verbal
communication to Police Chief Ryan Strong and Fire Chief Michael Stradtner.  

Emergency responders in Wayne now have another means of communicating with those in need of help in the community.

Core in the Community bags, a program to provide non-speaking individuals with the ability to express their needs and wants, were presented to Police Chief Ryan Strong and Fire Chief Mike Stradtner during the July 20 city council meeting.

The bags, presented and funded by members of the Wayne Rotary Club in cooperation with the Wayne-Westland Community School Family Resource Center, contain resources and tools to help first responders community with non-verbal individuals.

The bags contain noise canceling headphones, weighted lap pads, sensory fidgets and laminated core boards with pictures to indicate common phrases.

Police and fire department personnel will receive brief training on how to effectively use the bags to communicate and address sensory needs with non-speaking individuals, officials said. 

Members of the Wayne Rotary were joined by individuals from the Family Resource Center, who created the bags for the presentation. On hand were Rachael Hendzell, M.A. CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist/Department Head, Special Education; Amanda Dybus, Supervisor of Family and Community Engagement, District McKinney-Vento (Homeless) Liaison & District Foster Care Liaison and Heather Martinez-Varieur, supervisor of Special Education.

The Wayne Rotary Club is marking the 100th anniversary of the club with special community projects during year.