Faith in Action

Faith-based finalists: Teach responsibility, build community | Jonathon Seidl

On a Wednesday last month Helen and Don Fitz, a tiny, quiet couple in their 70s, entered Calvary Church's adult daycare center, a room with pastel-checkered carpet and bright blue walls. Tucked underneath Helen's wrinkled arm was a thick, gray folder. She sat down and spread the contents on the table. Her voice cracked: "She only missed one time and that was because we came on a different day and she wasn't prepared."

The "she" who doesn't miss is Elsbeth, a developmentally disabled adult helped by the Faith in Action (FIA) program in Grand Rapids, Mich. Elsbeth, perhaps 70 herself, soon joined the Fitzes at their table and delivered that week's drawing: flowers more like stick figures than Monet's lilies. It was signed: "To Helen, Love Elsbeth." Elsbeth said she likes to draw flowers and also to dance: She rose and performed a trot-skip hybrid with arms rigidly locked, a bit like C-3PO. Helen grinned: "We get a different kind of joy out of all of them. We don't worry as much about little things."