Connecting Families with a Network for Support 

 

King’s Table Ministries (KT) connects special needs families to a network of support while providing services with compassion. The organization’s roots began with a seed of compassion. Founders David & Sally Gallagher have a personal connection to the special needs community, with his daughter and her sister both having intellectual disabilities. As the step-parent of a child attending Lincoln School, a center for children and young adults with cognitive impairments in the Kent Intermediate School District (Kent ISD), Sally saw students wearing dirty, tattered “bibs.” Familiar with the clothing protectors her sister used, she set out to provide a more dignified garment for these students. To accomplish this, she turned to her own community and network of support – her church. The women in Sally’s Bible study group put together a towel drive, collecting clean linens to make new clothing protectors for the students at Lincoln. This small act of love laid the foundation for KT. 

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The KT model is like a tree, rooted in the church that provides a place for spiritual renewal and compassionate acceptance and branches out to meet families in the other areas of their lives - the schools where they learn and the group homes where they live. 

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The organization has a presence in several Kent ISD Center Based Programing locations in Kent County, Michigan, acting as a resource to the students, parents, teachers, and staff in these special needs schools. The relationships they have developed with the students and families over the years have helped chart the path forward for KT. 

Group Homes are essential for many adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. There are over 400 group homes in Kent County area managed by various organizations. These homes can be lonely places, sometimes lacking the emotional support residents need. KT provides a link between local churches and several group homes in the area to help create a sense of community and provide distinctive assistance for those living in these facilities.