Catch the W.A.V.E (Work, Advocate, Value & Empower)

With more than a half-century of combined experience working in special education, Tara Beatty and Keri Climie know and love the population of young people with disabilities that they have watched grow from elementary school through the Guilford High School Transition Academy for 18- to 22-year-olds. A few years ago, they began considering what those burgeoning adults need to thrive in the larger community, and they founded Sound Life Connections, Inc. 

It began with an informal summer life skills program – just some cooking lessons and a bit of social interaction. But as they listened to parents describing the end of the public school programming as a cliff, they envisioned something greater. Today, Sound Life Connections is an inclusive community with a Central Perk vibe and a well-used karaoke machine. They continue with life skills and social skills training, as well as advocacy training for families, social interaction for their clients combined with respite time for caregivers, and, most recently, vocational training in the form of a mobile gelato cart.

In 2024, The Guilford Foundation awarded Sound Life Connections a $12,500 grant to purchase and equip the cart, which debuted at the St. George’s Italian Festival. 

“The community was incredibly supportive,” Climie says. They note that local businesses like Heritage Collision and Minuteman Electric donated their services to help refurbish the cart that they purchased. “It really restores your faith in the world,” Beatty adds. 

Dubbed the WAVE (Work, Advocate, Value, Empower), the mobile cart allows clients to work and learn. They practice communicating effectively with customers, operating the register, adhering to health codes, and more. In addition to the Italian Festival, the cart made appearances at Guilford Youth Football’s Friday Night Lights kickoff, Syd’s Book Shack, and a few other events before being stored for the winter.

Beatty and Climie hope the mobile cart will lead to a more permanent shop within their cozy space on Whitfield Street. Their clients’ and families’ needs, interests, and skills shape their evolving vision. But one thing is for certain: it will be fun.