Where adults with special needs contribute to the world.
OUR MISSION
The mission of BiG™ Lowcountry is to create a God-centered educational environment that provides
meaningful work
a sense of belonging, and
dignity and respect for adults with special needs.
Our mission is to enable the world to see the value in our men and women; their worth is not in what they can do, but in whose image they were created.
To learn more about BiG Lowcountry, please visit our website: BiGLowcountry.org
BIG News
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OPENING DATE!
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BIG News 〰️ OPENING DATE! 〰️
We have some exciting news about our new home! We have received approval to begin renovating the barn next to Saint Peter’s Church at 1307 Porchers Bluff Road, in Mt. Pleasant! We have raised all the funds needed for the initial (move-in) renovation and the purchase of our greenhouse. We expect our space to be ready in March 2024 and are looking forward to starting our program in June! Initially, our operating hours will be: Monday – Thursday, 1-5pm, beginning JUNE 1, 2024. Contact Kate Taylor at BiGLowcountry@gmail.com to learn more about our program and how to enroll your loved one at BiG-Lowcountry!
CURRENT MOST CRITICAL NEEDS:
FUNDS – to help us purchase furnishings needed for our future home
PRAYER – that the Lord guides prospective Citizens, volunteers, and future staff to us
TO DONATE: As a non-profit, 100% of our proceeds return to help create a bright future for adults with special needs and are tax-deductible (TAX EXEMPT #: 92-3452238) If you would like to donate items needed for our enterprises, greenhouse or barn renovation, please contact us at BiGLowcountry@gmail.com. If you would like to donate funds to purchase materials for our enterprises , provide scholarships, or help furnish our new space, please use this link: https://square.link/u/87p3HJzb You may also venmo your donation: @Evergreen_Collective
OUR VISION
Our vision is to build an entrepreneurial vocational community with a high-end gift shop and café where our Citizens with special needs are celebrated and empowered as they continue to engage in meaningful, God-centered work and service.
HISTORY
Brookwood was founded in 1983 by Yvonne Streit---a teacher and mom with a daughter with multiple disabilities. Yvonne was dismayed at the dismal lack of meaningful work for adults with special needs in her home state of Texas, and across the United States. Yvonne started Brookwood with less support than BiG™ Lowcountry (BiG-Lo) has today, and currently there are 250 Citizens living purpose-filled lives in the Brookwood community (https://www.brookwoodcommunity.org/). The first group of adults with disabilities at Brookwood chose to call themselves “Citizens”. We are following in their footsteps. Brookwood expanded to the Austin area, where Brookwood in Georgetown, or “BiG™” was planted. BiG-Lo is a replication site for BiG™ (https://brookwoodingeorgetown.org/). Watch From Black & White to Color:
REPLICATION
BiG is mentoring us every step of the way as we grow. We trained onsite at the BiG community near Austin, TX, along with representatives from four additional communities from across the U.S. We have weekly calls with our BiG mentors and local onsite consultations as needed.
OUR CORE VALUES
These are non-negotiable values that define who we are and how we live out our mission. We are GODRICH:
Grace: We believe God cares for us and gives us His Grace. It’s God’s will that we share His Grace by caring for each other.
Opportunity: We believe everyone should have a chance to live, learn, work and laugh; all these opportunities are a gift from God.
Dignity: We believe that as children of God, we are all blessed at birth with worth and value. People who are different from us are just as important to God as we are.
Respect: We show respect for each other by recognizing that the dignity of every person must always be honored.
Interdependence: We believe that everyone has strengths and weaknesses; interdependence is our mutual reliance upon and need for one another.
Continual Improvement: We believe that continual improvement, both personal and organizational, is vital to the advancement of our mission and safety of our Citizens.
Honesty: We believe in being honest and consistent in what we think, say, and do.
THE PROGRAM
BiG™ Lowcountry is an innovative BiG™ Lowcountry is an innovative vocational community for adults with special needs. Our “Citizens” create beautiful, marketable items to sell to help sustain the vocational community they enjoy everyday. They have become artisans, bakers, gardeners, card makers, jewelry makers, and more. We are a mission partner of St. Peter’s Church, (1307 Porchers Bluff Rd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464).
We chose the Brookwood/BiG model because we love the beautiful, God-centered culture fostered in their communities and appreciate the effective vocational instruction, which incorporates elements of both applied behavioral analysis (ABA) and the TEACCH methodologies.
We create the program to the Citizen not the Citizen to the program: We keep it individualized. We truly believe that everyone is bringing a gift to the table and that our job is to create opportunities for those gifts to flourish. We are intentionally observant; we are committed to being present and able to receive each Citizen’s gift. We take time. We are still. We lean into the reciprocal gift-giving. We believe that life change happens in the million sacred small moments—what we call “holy moments”. Production goals are not how we measure success; being present is what’s important. We daily affirm that our Citizens are created in the image of God and are celebrated daily.
For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Psalm 139: 13-14
VOLUNTEERS
There are so many ways to be part of this community. We believe that each of you has something valuable to offer. Here are some examples:
Volunteer on Site
Work alongside Citizens in the garden
Do an art or craft project with the Citizens
Lead worship or daily devotions for us once a week
Just come be a friend
Donate services or resources
Purchase or provide funds for equipment and supplies for the greenhouse\
Own a company? Donate a product or service.
Share you gardening knowledge with us
Programming skills? Help us develop our website.
Creative? Interior Designer? Help us market our products to make them beautiful and saleable
Fundraise!
Have some experience with fundraising or marketing?
Grant writing?
We need your help with both! Fundraising is critical to our mission, as it enables us to give scholarships to families with minimal resources.
Not sure what you want to do or feel unqualified? Good! Dressing in weakness is just fine! In 2nd Corinthians Jesus tells us:
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
For inquiries or to subscribe to our newsletter, please email us at: BiGLowcountry@gmail.com.
UPDATES:
We have some exciting news about our new home! We have received approval to begin renovating the barn next to Saint Peter’s Church at 1307 Porchers Bluff Road, in Mt. Pleasant! We have raised all the funds needed for the initial (move-in) renovation and the purchase of our greenhouse. We expect our space to be ready in March 2024 and are looking forward to starting our program in June! Initially, our operating hours will be: Monday – Thursday, 1-5pm, beginning JUNE 1, 2024. Contact Kate Taylor at BiGLowcountry@gmail.com to learn more about our program and how to enroll your loved one at BiG-Lowcountry!
CURRENT MOST CRITICAL NEEDS:
FUNDS – to help us purchase furnishings needed for our future home
PRAYER – that the Lord guides prospective Citizens, volunteers, and future staff to us
TO DONATE: As a non-profit, 100% of our proceeds return to help create a bright future for adults with special needs and are tax-deductible (TAX EXEMPT #: 92-3452238) If you would like to donate items needed for our enterprises, greenhouse or barn renovation, please contact us at BiGLowcountry@gmail.com. If you would like to donate funds to purchase materials for our enterprises , provide scholarships, or help furnish our new space, please use this link: https://square.link/u/87p3HJzb You may also venmo your donation: @Evergreen_Collective. IF YOU PREFER TO DONATE BY CHECK, please make your check out to BiG Lowcountry and mail to the following address:
BiG Lowcountry c/o Kate Taylor
1184 Moss Bluff
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
For more information and to sign up for our newsletter updates, please email us: BiGLowcountry@gmail.com
To learn more about Brookwood, BiG, and the vision of BiG Lowcountry, please watch from Black & White to Color:
WHO WE ARE
Board of Directors
Kate Taylor MS, Executive Director and Founder, BiG™ Lowcountry
Kate is the mother of two adult sons with autism, who like many others in the Lowcountry, need more purpose, meaning, and sense of community in their lives. In May 2022, Kate read Yvonne Streit’s book “Everybody’s Got a Seed to Sow” and her heart was re-captured by the desire to reproduce the Brookwood environment in the Lowcountry. In God’s perfect timing, St. Peter’s Church came full- heartedly alongside as partners in this ministry. Kate is married to Mike Taylor, and has a daughter, two sons, a stepdaughter, stepson, and five grandchildren. She recently retired from her Research Manager position at MUSC to focus on establishing BiG™ Lowcountry.
Capers Barr JD, Executive Pastor, Saint Peter’s Anglican Church
Capers lives in Mt. Pleasant, grew up in Charleston, graduated from Porter-Gaud High School, the University of South Carolina, and the University of South Carolina School of Law. After practicing law for 29 years, Capers transitioned from the law sector to join St. Peter’s team in 2022 to help lead the church. Capers is married to Jodi, and they have two sons, and a granddaughter. Their oldest son, Capers, and his wife, Mary, are the parents of Capers and Jodi’s granddaughter, Mary Lee, and they live in Mt. Pleasant. Capers and Jodi’s youngest son, Cannon, is married to Marguerite. Cannon and Marguerite live in Georgetown, SC. Capers is passionate about Saint Peter’s Church, BiG™ Lowcountry, and helping others go deeper in their faith.
Ira Rosenshein MD PhD, Psychiatrist
Ira graduated the medical University of South Carolina with a doctorate in biochemistry and medical degree. Residency in psychiatry was completed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Psychiatry was practiced in multiple contexts such as academia, homeless outreach, mental health centers, corrections, and private practice, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. After 25 years, Ira retired and spends his time reading, working in the garden, traveling, and with his two Havanese Lucky and Ladybug.
David Vail, Entrepreneur
David is a retired entrepreneur with extensive ownership and management experience in the travel industry, including franchise development and retail. He has a degree in Horticulture, with experience in greenhouse plant propagation and nursery container management at historic Magnolia Gardens and Nursery. David is a U.S. Army Veteran, serving as a Security Agency Communications Center supervisor. He served as president or board member of multiple Lowcountry organizations, including the Summerville and Daniel Island Rotary clubs and The Exchange Club Coastal Carolina Fair. David currently serves on the Board of Stewards at Saint Peter’s Anglican Church.
Meridith Fessenden, Elementary and Special Education Teacher (retired)
Meridith is married to Tom, a retired US Air Force officer, and the mother of 5 grown children and Nana to seven grandchildren. Meridith has always had a passion to instill a love for learning and to help others grow to their full potential, who God created them to be. As a military wife, Meridith spent many of her years homeschooling and raising their five children. As the children grew older, Meridith returned to teaching in the public schools. Meridith is excited to be part of BIG™ Lowcountry. We believe that each citizen is a gift from the Lord and has abilities and strengths that go beyond what we can ask or imagine.
James Vearil OTR/L, Occupational Therapist (retired)
Jim resides in Mt. Pleasant and has lived in the Lowcountry since his transfer to South Carolina with the Navy in 1978. After serving the Navy for 6 years, Jim attended the Medical University of South Carolina where he was awarded a BS in Occupational Therapy. Jim worked as an OT for both MUSC and Roper Hospitals and then provided home health services for adults and children with disabilities. Jim currently serves on the board of Blissful Dreams Rescue Ranch, which provides horseback riding and equine interaction for children and adults with disabilities. He is also a lifelong animal lover and enjoys a variety of pets at home. Jim is an active member of Saint Peter’s Church and is passionate about the opportunity to serve our community through BiG™ Lowcountry.
Nancy Lutes, Business Owner
Nancy Lutes lives in Georgetown, SC and is the owner of Interior Style Decorating Studio, LLC. For over 20 years she has served as both president and board member for various non-profits and charitable organizations in Maryland including the Talbot County Women's Club, Environment Fund of Maryland, Junior Women's Club of St. Michaels and The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. Having a son on the Autism Spectrum, Nancy is passionate about Big Lowcountry’s mission in serving the autism community and the impact on individuals’ lives. Nancy is married to Rick Lutes; her daughter, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters live in Mt. Pleasant.
Ben Newton MS, CPA, Legare, Bailey, Hinskey LLC
Ben has a BS in Accounting from Clemson University and a MS in Accountancy from the College of
Charleston. He is a member of the SC Association of Certified Public Accountants and the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Ben has volunteered his time extensively
throughout the Lowcountry, including serving on the Finance Committee of the Ronald McDonald
House Charities of Charleston, the Patriots Point Foundation Board of Directors, East Cooper
Breakfast Rotary, Mt. Pleasant Exchange Club, and as Treasurer of the IOP Run & Walk for the
Child. He and his wife, Kathryn, have a son Jonah and a daughter Elsie. Ben enjoys Clemson
football, attending his children’s events/activities, spending time with family and friends, and
supporting our friends with Special Needs at BiG™ Lowcountry.
Dr. Renée Jefferson, Professor for the Zucker Family School of Education
Prior to joining The Citadel, Dr. Jefferson taught in the College of Library and Information Science at
the University of South Carolina and the School of Information at San José State University. A former
academic librarian, Dr. Jefferson was Head of Reference Services at California State University, San
Bernardino and Senior Assistant Librarian at California State University, Long Beach. She completed
a four-year internship in the Research and Statistics Division at American College Testing (ACT) in
Iowa City, IA. Dr. Jefferson received her B.S. in Statistics and Masters in Library & Information from
the University of South Carolina, and a Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from
California State University, Long Beach. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and
Statistics from the Iowa Testing Program at the University of Iowa.Dr. Jefferson teaches graduate
courses in applied measurement techniques and data collection and analysis. Dr. Jefferson has a son
with learning differences and is eager to facilitate the BiG Lowcountry partnership with our lowcountry
adults with special needs.
Consultants to the Board:
Leondra Stoney MDiv, Pastor of Bethel AME Church, McClellanville, SC
“I did not come to be served, but to serve.” Rev. Stoney is humbled to serve the congregation of Bethel AME Church in McClellanville, SC. Leondra developed strong ties to the McClellanville community during her tenure at Lincoln Middle-High School. With over 12 years of pastoral experience, Leondra is committed to spreading the love of God and strengthening communities through outreach ministry. Leondra holds a Bachelor of Sociology Degree from the College of Charleston, a Master of Divinity Degree from Erskine Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at Emory University.: