Taking the lead, one story at a time

Adults with disabilities lead through service

Later this fall, a few members of the Aktion Club in Athens, Georgia, will walk into special education classrooms carrying a stack of picture books. They’ll take a seat at the front of the room, read aloud to elementary students and send every child home with their own book. Aktion Club is the only service club for adults with disabilities, with more than 7,200 members in over 400 clubs worldwide.

Every October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month recognizes the talents and contributions of people with disabilities at work and in their communities. Aktion Club members in Athens show those talents year-round by engaging in the work of community. They run membership meetings, plan projects and see them through. Jennifer Stimpson, Pinnacle community development manager and Kiwanis Georgia District 7 lieutenant governor, helped them get started.

Stimpson got the idea at her first Kiwanis State Convention in 2024. Kiwanis focuses on children, but Aktion Clubs extend its mission to adults with disabilities. Georgia had six of them at the time, so she chartered one through the Kiwanis Club of Athens. “For me, it was about empowering individuals of all abilities to experience the joy of serving others and making a difference,” she said.

Today the club’s 10 members are in charge. Brandon, the club’s president, takes pride in bringing structure and purpose to every meeting, and members choose their service projects. One member saw a need at his former high school, proposed a nonperishable food drive and rallied the club to help. “It’s not simply about participating in service,” Stimpson said. “It’s about empowering them to lead, make decisions and create meaningful change.”

The club’s newest project puts that leadership into the classroom. It grew out of Stimpson’s board service with Hope Haven of Northeast Georgia, which serves low- and moderate-income adults with developmental disabilities. Stimpson calls her approach connecting the dots. “When we bring people, resources and opportunities together, we create a much greater impact than we ever could individually,” she said.

Stimpson’s friend Melissa Brown, a special education teacher in Florida, wrote “I Can Stay Calm: Learning to Use Gentle Hands and Calm Feelings.” Her grandson, who has autism, inspired the story. Club members used a Hope Haven grant to buy 50 copies. Stimpson saw the project as more than a read-aloud. She wanted members to serve as role models. “When the kids see an adult with a disability leading the room, I think that will inspire them to take on leadership roles as they grow up,” she said.

When the last page turns, the lesson won’t end there. The students will remember the adults who read to them. And the members will leave with a deeper sense of purpose and pride. In Athens, that’s how leadership grows. One story at a time.