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Center of Family Love began 40th year celebrating first resident and future plans

Daily Oklahoman - 12/31/2020

Dec. 31—OKARCHE — There's a vibrant woman living at the Center of Family Love whose life is a testament to the center's longevity and its caring campus.

At 25, Pauline was the center's first resident when it opened its doors 40 years ago. She'd been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and doctors told her parents that she would only live to her mid-20s.

"They didn't really expect her to live past the age of 24. She was one year past her life expectancy when she moved in," said Debbie Espinosa, the center's CEO and president.

Today, both Pauline and the center are thriving.

As the center recently marked its 40th anniversary as a residential and occupational center for the developmentally disabled, it seemed only fitting to celebrate Pauline, as well.

Pauline, 63, currently works as Sister Veronica Higgins' assistant at the center, 635 W Texas Ave.

"She is definitely heartwarming," Higgins said.

"She's usually the first person that greets me in the morning, and I hear that when I'm not there she looks for my car out her window, pulling the blinds apart."

Espinosa said just as Pauline has grown and evolved over the years, so have other residents who have called the center home. She said the center was created to help individuals living with developmental disabilities live life to the fullest.

"I think Pauline is just the epitome of what all of our residents are," she said.

"What inspires them? To live a life full of joy."

Years filled with growth, learning

The Oklahoma Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service order, envisioned the Center of Family Love as a place where adults with developmental disabilities could live, learn and thrive.

Espinosa said center leaders, working with others in the community, developed programs and activities to make the Knights' dreams come to fruition. Along the way, the leaders learned a lot from residents like Pauline.

Espinosa said some of them were born before schools offered classes for children with special special needs. However, like everyone else, they wanted to learn new things, interact with others and be part of a community. They deserved that, and that's what is offered at the center.

"As a society, we've learned so much about the developmentally disabled. While focusing on their physical needs, we're going from nursing care to educational life experiences, learning a foreign language, learning to play an instrument, learning culinary skills and learning sign language," Espinosa said.

"We've exceeded our vision."

With that said, the center's $25 million capital campaign is under way to raise funds to expand programs and resources. Espinosa described the campaign as one of the center's "most ambitious" for the 20-acre center complex. The center includes five group homes, five intermediate care facilities, a gift shop and garden center.

She said funds raised through the campaign will provide new buildings, a swimming pool for therapeutic exercise, and free-standing chapel to replace the center's current chapel that was modified from a conference room. Other plans include new homes built on the campus for residents and the construction of an activities and performing arts center. Expansion of work day programs for residents is also a goal of the campaign.

Espinosa said the last phase of the campaign will raise funds for an endowment.

"Despite COVID, we're moving forward," she said.

How to Help

For more information about the Center of Family Love or how to make a donation, go to https://centeroffamilylove.org.

It is so rare, after all these years to have an organization that still cares for their first resident, client, or patient. We would love to bring her story to larger platform if possible.

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(c)2020 The Oklahoman

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