LINDALE, Texas — One girl in Lindale High School is making quite a difference in her community.
Lauren Van Andel is a junior at Lindale High school who has a love and passion for kids who are often overlooked.
“I really just recognized my love for these kids, and that I really wanted to highlight them in our community,” said Van Andel.
Lauren was inspired early on to turn her passion for special needs kids into something greater.
“I was inspired as a freshman, honestly, I was on social media and I follow some businesses, [where] students with special needs run those businesses,” said Van Andel. "One of them that I came across was Howdy Homemade. And it's a business that originated in the Metroplex area, but it is only run by special needs students.”
Once Van Andel had the vision in mind it lead her to create something similar in her community.
“I knew that probably franchising a business as a 14-year-old wasn't the most probable option," Van Andel said. "And so [I chose] to ask the community to open up their doors, and accept students with disabilities to be employed.”
Once she began voicing ideas and visions for special needs children, Lindale High School and the Lindale Chamber of Commerce joined her to make her dream come to fruition.
“Lauren and I have been working together since ninth grade," said Jim Bell, CEO of Capstone College and Career Advising.
Bell regularly works with students in ninth grade to help develop personal projects.
"We thought, okay, there's a student's disability program in Lindale high school right where you are," Bell said. "How can we connect them in the community that makes them more marketable to where they're employable, and within the community, and the best way to do that is to connect them with a Chamber of Commerce. "
After two and half years of many setbacks and delays due to the pandemic, Van Andel's project is now being turned into a program called the Lindale Occupational Outreach Program (LOOP).
It’s a three-step program that partners with multiple businesses in the Lindale community and teaches students with special needs the life skills they need to find a job.
“This was a dream that I've had for a long time and I am very passionate about these students with disabilities," said Van Andel. "They are so valuable and so important and so special. Their lives might look different than the normal teen or the normal adult. They might not be able to do some things that every normal kid can do. But there's also so many things that as a normal kid I can't do that so many of these students can, and honestly their bravery and their joy is something that I strive to have every single day.”
Van Andel hopes other communities will join in creating more opportunities for children with special needs.
“In the future, if at all possible, I really like to see other communities around Lindale even doing the same thing," Van Andel said. "I think that just as soon as this project starts to have an impact on the Lindale community that it can very easily have an impact on other communities around who recognize it and recognize all the benefits that can come from it.”