Robin Thomas, 26, had a stroke when she was 18. Her mother, Jean Thomas, was left to cope with the aftermath.
Throughout Robin Thomas' recovery process, Jean Thomas said there was one thing that inspired Robin Thomas to try to speak, move and socialize; working at I CAN and Beyond I CAN.
"Once we started getting her back into the shop she was attempting to talk," Jean Thomas said. "And you know, sometimes you can't understand her, and you really have to listen, but she tries."
In an unassuming white house with a sign above the door reading "Beyond I CAN," Muncie residents are leading the way in vocational education for people with disabilities.
Beyond I CAN is an extension of the I CAN program at Muncie Southside High School that Nancy Barnett, former Southside teacher, started 15 years ago. I CAN is a business in which the products are created by students with disabilities, said Jane Sulanke, current I CAN teacher.
Students in the program have varying levels of disabilities, Sulanke said, but it doesn't prevent them from contributing products to the store because the art and special education teachers are willing to work with and adapt products to each student's ability.
"I don't let kids say, 'I can't do that,' because this is the I CAN room not the, 'I can't' room," Sulanke said.
Students spend their class time creating various crafts that are either sold to walk-in customers or that were commissioned, Sulanke said.
Items created vary from purses woven with pieces of plastic shopping bags to hats woven from the same material to microwavable rice bags to soothe sore muscles. Beaded necklaces and decorated flip-flops are also sold. Prices from the items range from 15 cents to $25, and much of the money is donated to charities.
While the classroom functions as a business, Sulanke said all of the academic requirements are incorporated into the program. Problem solving and life skills also are incorporated into the class.
"Every day, every student brings new issues," Sulanke said. "We approach problem solving in creative ways."
The main life skills taught in the class were generating change for products sold, selling products and communicating with customers.
Generating change introduces the concept of money management, Sulanke said. Working with customers is designed to make students feel as if they are part of the community.
Profits generated from the I CAN store are donated to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. Students decide who should receive the money they have generated through the store.
Construction prevented the store from generating as much of a profit as is typical, Sulanke said. This year, the program earned $300 and plans to donate between $50 and $100 to charities. The rest of the money will be used to purchase supplies.
"Instead of being on the receiving end and always needing help, they can help someone," Sulanke said. "When they discover that, it's huge."
Sulanke has been in charge of the I CAN program for two years since Barnett retired.
However, Barnett didn't really retire. Immediately after leaving Muncie Southside she created Beyond I CAN, a community program that continues teaching students in a vocational-based environment.
Because most special education students complete high school with certificates of completion as opposed to diplomas, Barnett said it was often difficult for them to find employment. The goal of Beyond I CAN is to instill skills that are transferable to the workplace so the artists can branch out into the community and gain employment.
Workers are encouraged to develop their own line of products, Barnett said. Leslie Klingenberg has created two product lines, butterfly greeting cards and bags with strings woven at the tops so they can seal. Klingenberg creates products at Beyond I CAN every Tuesday and Thursday, and sometimes on Sundays.
"I just like being here," she said.
Beverly Harrold, a regular volunteer at Beyond I CAN, spends much of her time with Klingenberg while at the store because Harrold is a long-time friend of the Klingenbergs.
A retired kindergarten teacher, Harrold said she goes to Beyond I CAN because she needed something else to fill her life when she was no longer interaction with students every day.
"I receive much more from (the workers) than they receive from me," she said.
In addition to volunteering and creating crafts, Harrold said she also attends the monthly social events as often as possible. Beyond I CAN workers developed the idea of having a monthly social one afternoon while eating snacks, Barnett said. Sock hops, luaus and a Halloween party are a few of the themes the parties have had throughout the years.
The social events at Beyond I CAN also serve a greater purpose to the artisans, she said.
"All they're wanting from that kind of interaction is to be like everyone else," Barnett said. "I kind of like to go into the bathroom by myself and just listen to what's going on out here, and it's happiness that I hear."
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