GAINESVILLE, Texas — A new program is launching in Gainesville that will connect special education students with the agricultural community.
The Gainesville Livestock Pals Program (GLBP) aims to provide special education students in grades 1-12 with the opportunity to interact with animals, and provides assistive devices if needed so children with physical disabilities can participate.
The group will start with goats and lambs, helping the children get used to the animals before teaching them how to leash, walk, brush, feed and water them, with the possibility of expanding to rabbits in the future.
“A lot of these kids have never had these opportunities, they’ve been left behind. They’ve never been told they could achieve something,” said Alisha Beller, the program’s founder. “My hope is that they leave this program feeling like they’ve grown 10 feet, not just with a disability or a diagnosis. They deserve so much more than that.”
The program started in April after Bellard’s twin sons, Liam and Luca, attended a show for special education kids in Thackerville, and Bellard realized just how many children the opportunity could help.
“Liam has autism and Luca has severe ADHD. … I have three kids, two of them are mine,” she said. “This is a way to support these kids. … We can come together. … They might be doing well in the program, but something’s going on at school. We can use it to track behavior and help with other things.”
The program not only supports children, but also provides support to show parents and other caregivers what is available to them.
“When I transferred to Gainesville Schools, I didn’t realize there was such a big community of kids in special education,” Beller said, “It’s brought us together and we’re starting to realize there are things we can do that some parents may not have known about.”
GLBP has generated a lot of interest and is off to a good start: Beller and the other group leaders were hoping that 10 kids would be interested in the program, but now 46 are signed up.
Community support was immediate, providing animals, food and funds: Beller recalls that 26 animals were quickly donated, despite the shelter only being able to house nine.
“None of our families pay any money. All of the animals are donated. Food, everything like that is 100 percent donated,” she said. “We’ve had a great response from the community. We just got a sponsor to help fund the program. It’s about $12,000-plus just for the year… We’re grateful for the opportunity.”
The group also receives support from the Gainesville Independent School District Agriculture Program, which allows the GLBP to use school district facilities as meeting places and animal housing, giving students from the high school FFA program the opportunity to work with younger children and learn how to lead and care for animals.
“FFA members come and practice walking and haltering with the kids. … We’re very fortunate to have such great FFA officers and teachers,” Beller said. “They give up their animals’ time to help us out, so we hope to eventually raise enough money to provide them with scholarships as a thank you.”