In the back of a green van on the east side of Bloomington, Jonathan Hossler squeals and laughs with excitement, rocking back and forth in his seat. As the van stops at its first home on the route, the tall and skinny autistic 21-year-old is coaxed out of the van with a cloth bag – the words “Hand ‘n Hand” printed across it. His two supervisors remind him it’s time to do his work and collect the awaiting food on the doorstep – food that provides 5 percent of Bloomington’s Community Kitchen’s total donations.\n“Good job, Mr. Hossler,” says Kiah Burkhead as she applauds his work. The instructional associate from Stone Belt Arc – a facility for those with developmental disabilities – spends eight hours every day with Jonathan. That includes supervising him on the food route – the one inspired by Jonathan himself. \nThe project, called Hand ‘n Hand, started four years ago when Jonathan’s family and friends paired with Stone Belt to create a way for disabled adults like Jonathan to find meaningful work. The concept is simple: Bloomington residents leave non-perishable food every two weeks for Stone Belt clients to pick up. The route is organized and rotated, so Stone Belt clients have 12 to 17 houses to visit each day. \n \nFood for thought \nUp until a few years ago, Jonathan didn’t receive applause for his work. He can barely talk, and his abilities are comparable to a child of just 16 months, said his mother, Carol-Anne Hossler, who is also a clinical associate professor of education at IU. But one thing he has that many people don’t is a project that not only impacts others, but betters himself in ways even he can’t comprehend, Carol-Anne said. \n“Four years ago there was nothing happy to tell about \nJonathan,” she said.\nSince he’s severely disabled, he lives in a group home with Stone Belt. What Carol-Anne loves the most is that the route is now helping another Stone Belt client, Shawn King.\n“Stone Belt is telling me this could work for so many of their consumers who right now aren’t having nearly as meaningful days as Jonathan is,” she said.\nThe idea for the route came from David Sutherlin, a teacher at Bloomington High School North, where Jonathan attended high school. Carol-Anne was trying to think what her son could do for a job that would be worthwhile for him. \n“We were sitting there at Opie Taylor’s and Jonathan’s teacher said ‘What about if he picked up food?’” she said. “And as soon as he said it I knew it would work.”\nIt started with 18 friends of the Hosslers in six neighborhoods. Since then, the route has expanded to about 120 people in 15 neighborhoods, enough to keep the two men busy every weekday for two hours. Eric Ford, a team leader for Stone Belt, is working to expand the route and said he has more work than he can keep up with. About 10 people are on a waiting list wanting to be added, he said.\n“The dream of the food route is for it to be as easy as recycling,” said Ford, who sometimes drives the green van during the route.
A challenged family \nThe project is gaining attention and helping feed more than 300 of Community Kitchen’s daily visitors, a success 21 years in the making for the Hossler family. While in high school, Jonathan tried three different jobs that didn’t work. Now, he is able to have meaningful work that not only benefits himself, but brings neighborhoods together, Carol-Anne said.\n“I feel like I waited a heck of a long time and have bragging rights on this kid,” she said. “There’s a hole in my heart bleeding profusely every day. ... You know, it’s taken me 22 years to get here and a hell of a lot of tears.” \nJonathan has a “global developmental disability,” meaning he had a deficiency in every area he was tested, Carol-Anne said.\n“It really changed everything about our family,” said Carol-Anne, who also has 30-year-old twins, Peter and David. “We thought our household would be the household where all the kids hung out. We couldn’t do that because Jonathan never slept through the night.” \nAfter 10 years of tending to him and taking him back and forth to schools, Carol-Anne made the decision to move him to a group home, a choice she described as “one of the worst decisions I personally had to go through.”\n“It’s exhausting. For 10 years neither my husband nor I was even getting a full night’s sleep,” she said. “There’s a lot of sadness that you try to forget.”
Growing \nFunding Needs \nThe program costs more than $30,000 a year, so Stone Belt is working hard to fund it. Though the project has already received a $9,200 community foundation grant, Carol-Anne said as the route grows, there is an equally growing need for funding. \nCarol-Anne said they are trying to apply for a grant through the Hamburger Helper Web site called Hometown Helper, which will give $100,000 to projects across the county this year. Winners will be announced on Nov. 15.\nDavid Hossler, Jonathan’s brother, contributed his thoughts on the project in August. \n“I am a 30-year-old man with normal ability levels in all physical and mental capacities,” he posted on the Hamburger Helper Web site. “But I couldn’t be prouder to say that (on most days anyway) my younger brother Jonathan, a severely-handicapped, non-verbal 21-year-old, probably makes a larger contribution to well-being of his community overall than I could honestly claim that I do.”\nAs the route ends late Monday afternoon, Jonathan and King make their last stop at Community Kitchen where they count out the number of items they collected from the day. Smiles spread across their faces as they call out peas, mandarin oranges and beans, placing them in a pile of triumph. They smile at their accomplishments and climb back into the van to ride the rest of the way home – continuing their routine of counting out loud at stop lights, which calms them down and keeps them focused, Burkhead said. Burkhead can’t always make out the words Jonathan says, but understands his own way of communicating.\nBurkhead said there is a special quality about those with disabilities.\n“I’ve always felt that way,” she said, “that people with special needs always give more.”\n“And ask less,” Ford added.
