Imaginations running wild

POST FALLS — Nary a free space exists on the racks of a jam-packed costume shop in Post Falls.

The walls are covered as well, hung with masks and shelves to hold hats, wigs and dress up accessories.

This costume shop may look cluttered and claustrophobic, but for Specialized Needs Recreation, it represents something much bigger than the eye can see.

"It’s been a godsend and it’s going to do so much for our organization," SNR board member Wendy Carroll said Thursday. "I’m over the moon."

Last June, a benevolent realtor donated the former Who Dat Costume Rentals shop to SNR, along with more than $25,000 worth of inventory. Carroll said the real estate agent, James Clark, basically gave the keys to the nonprofit and said, "have at it."

"This is like a dream come true to have this," Carroll said. "When Jim handed this over, he was really putting in place what could become his legacy, which is an entire program that could go on for decades of people getting their vocational training in the shop. I don’t think he has a clue that he’s done that for us."

Carroll has been a board member for SNR for three years and has been an SNR mom since she enrolled her son, Toby, in the program in 2005. Toby, 26, has developmental disability as well as autism and cerebral palsy. Wendy said SNR, which is a nonprofit that offers recreation programs and activities for disabled and challenged youth and adults, has been a dream for her family.

"When (Toby) graduated high school, there’s like this lull that comes over them," she explained. "They’ve been going to school since they were like 4 years old, that’s all they know and all of a sudden there’s nowhere to go, so they frequently end up just playing video games and they become isolated, they regress. He was having a hard time. Then we introduced the SNR Life Program … now he’s fully involved."

The costume shop provides an avenue for these individuals to develop life and business skills. Wendy, who worked for Disney Studios in California for several years, said she is beyond enthusiastic about what the future holds.

"When Jim gave us this, his vision was that this would be financial help to us for funding our programs," she said. "It's doing that, but what it's really doing is it's going to provide us with an opportunity to have vocational training for our people. Our dream is they will work in the shop and we will find whatever their strengths are and whatever their talents are. My son is good at categorizing; he can look at a costume and he knows if it goes into frontier, vintage, TV and film, he knows, so that's his strength. Everybody has their specialties."

About the same time that Clark donated the shop, Wendy said Spokane Civic Theatre also contributed $15,000 in costumes when it scaled down its wardrobe collection.

"I asked if they would send any leftovers to us," she said. "We have a massive amount of costumes, not just for parties or the commercial business, but also theatrical rentals."

SNR's new and exciting business venture comes at a time of growth for the nonprofit. SNR recently introduced the SNR Life Program, where participants go on field trips on Tuesdays, build life skills on Wednesdays and go shopping and purchase food items to make lunch on Thursdays.

When asked if he enjoys the program, Toby didn’t miss a beat.

"Yes I do," he said, agreeing that SNR has been great for learning new things and making friends.

"We dove right in and it made a world of difference for him," Wendy said. "It’s his social world."

Another theater-related development is in the works for SNR, and it's right up Wendy's alley.

"The big news for me, because I’m in theater, we’re going to start doing an annual theatrical production at the Kroc Center," she said. "We hope to do 'Beauty and the Beast Jr.' in November. The idea behind this is every role is played by a disabled actor. Each disabled actor has a non-disabled shadow actor standing behind them, wearing black, that can coach and encourage and remind and make sure they go where they need to be and say what they need to say.

"We’re excited about that because it makes it possible for them to perform," Wendy continued. "But also, we're hoping it will serve to create an understanding between the non-disabled actors and the disabled actors so they can understand that we’re all going for the same thing, we’re all on the same page."

SNR is actively seeking volunteers to help with costume sorting, repairing, creating, interacting with the public and teaching SNR participants how to conduct daily tasks.

SNR Costume Rentals is also searching for a new home that is larger — about 2,000 square feet — where costumes can be efficiently organized while giving SNR participants enough room to move around as they run the shop.

Costumes are rented out on a donation basis and are available for parties, events and holiday fun as well as theatrical performances. The shop is open by appointment only: 755-7133.

To volunteer or get involved with SNR, contact SNR programs administrator Angie Goucher at 755-6781 or angie@snridaho.org.