Interview with Kayla Minchew, Executive Director at Spectrum of Solutions

Jordan:  All right. Thank you for joining us on this episode here on Viewpoints. I'm sitting here with Pastor John and we have a special guest with us today, Kayla Minchew. How are you doing? 

Kayla: Doing alright. Thanks for having me. 

Jordan: We are so grateful you're here. A lot of people, if they don't know you, might not realize that you serve with our worship team as well. You have just been such an encouragement to me and my team and I thank you for that. 

Kayla: Thank you, I enjoy serving on the team.

Jordan: We're so lucky to have you. Today we're going to be talking a little bit about what you do. So, tell us a little about Spectrum and how that came to be your role.

Kayla: So, Spectrum of Solutions was formerly known as MARC. We are a local nonprofit organization here in Midland. We were established in 1959. We originally were established to service children with special needs because at that time they couldn't go into the school system. Originally it was established for children and it kind of morphed into more after that. We established the group Homes and our Day services and then in 2012, we started a program for children again and with autism and developmental disabilities. Now we serve a little over 250 individuals in the community.

Jordan: That's amazing.

John: That's great. 

Jordan: How long have you been with Spectrum and what is the primary mission? I guess you could say what is your mission statement?

Kayla: So I've been with Spectrum for 11 years and have been the Executive Director for about three years. Our role in the community is to provide resources and support for children and families and adults with intellectual disabilities like Down's syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and any kind of intellectual disability.

Jordan: You said you've been there 11 years, what would be the biggest challenges that you face? Maybe from when you started, and even until now? 

Kayla: I think staffing has always been a big challenge. This is a challenging population to work with and they're an amazing population to work with. It's really fun to see them grow and develop and do great things. But, it can be scary and it can be just tiresome. So, it's difficult to find staff that want to be there. We face a lot of challenges with financial support, especially from the state. It's not always easy to have the financial support that we need to pay people what they really deserve.

John: We're so glad to have you with us, Kayla. I want to just ask a few things. You know we're developing Love Midland as well as thinking about churches as support. I know different groups support you guys. How can churches, Love Midland, the community, help with Spectrum?

Kayla: I think probably the biggest support that we can have is volunteers, because of our staffing challenges, it's really hard for us to be able to get our clients out in the community and go do special fun things. So, really the biggest support we could use is volunteers to take them out to the movies, to go on a fishing trip, to go out to dinner, to go bowling and just to come spend time with them. We're also always looking for help with things like painting houses, cleaning flower beds, and items like that.

Jordan: Absolutely. Where would you go if someone wanted to volunteer? Where is the first place that you would have them do that?

Kayla: I would definitely check out our website SpectrumofSolutions.org. We have a career page and we also have a volunteer page and  you can click on that volunteer page. We have a new volunteer coordinator. So, we'll be in touch if you reach out.

John: Absolutely. So, Kayla, you've mentioned several things about being involved and kind of the impact. What have you seen as a kind of blessing when people have volunteered? How has that affected folks who have maybe been a little bit hesitant at first or maybe they never were hesitant. But, in any category, what have you seen is the impact on the people who did volunteer?  

Kayla: These clients will bless your socks off. They are the most loving, generous, kindhearted individuals you will ever meet. They're not shy. You're usually greeted with a hug. So, anybody that has been hesitant, it's been fun to see them come in and think, wow, these guys are amazing. They're just such a blessing.

John: So true!  A question I'm always curious about, because I find God brings people into different paths and missions and purposes and lessons for a lot of different reasons. What's Kayla Minchew’'s story and the call that you feel?  Why Spectrum? Why this direction for you? And, what kind of “God tapped you on the shoulder moment” was it?  Explain that a little bit. 

Kayla: Ever since high school, I have had this desire to to just be a helpful person to to pour into people that maybe can't help themselves. So, my career path in life has always been some kind of service industry. I've been so blessed to be able to use my music as a music therapist and to serve in that manner. Now I’m in more of an administrative role. But, I don't know. I've always felt this calling to serve others and to help others. That's led me down different paths that put me in the special needs population. 

John: That's great. That's awesome. 

Jordan: Kayla, to the listener, what would be one thing that you'd want to leave them with as far as the joy and what you can receive from stepping into something like this to help? What would be one thing that you would just say, hey, this is something that you should really think about and that can help them on that journey?  

Kayla: I know it's scary, maybe just not knowing what to expect, but I say, jump in there. These people are a blessing and they're fun. I'm certain it's worth it. 

Jordan: Pastor John, is there anything that you would like to leave the listener with today? As far as what we've heard from Kayla's story and how that can impact us?

John: I think a couple of things:  One is I do appreciate you Kayla, just your leadership in this organization that we partner with and do some great work with - just as some amazing things. I do think one of the things that we really want to be about always as a church, and as individuals is just how can we love our city and how can we make a difference in somebody's life? Spectrum gives us a great opportunity to do that. I think sometimes that population is looked at as the least of these, which is probably not the best way, not the best viewpoint at all. It's the wrong kind of viewpoint, because all of us are the least of these, and that God loves every one of us. It just to me is so powerful that it's a living picture of being made in God's image and how much God loves everyone you know. It’s just a great lesson for all of us, no matter what in every situation.

Jordan: Pastor John, thank you so much and Kayla, again, thank you for what you do. I know you make the world a better place. So, thank you so much. And to the listener, we hope to see you next time and God bless.