TOWN OF RIVER FALLS – Have A Heart Inc. recently welcomed a new program director and the future looks bright for this nonprofit organization dedicated to adults with physical and developmental disabilities.

Wanda Burnley, of Roberts, took over as program director on Feb. 26. With a background in human services and social work, she feels at home at Have A Heart. She has worked in case management with individuals with disabilities in Ramsey County and with children in foster care in Washington County. She also nannied for 13 years and was a Sunday School director at her church. She and her husband are founding members of Hudson Hometown Music Fest and she belongs to the Hudson Lions Club.

“I just love working with kids and people,” Burnley said. “Have A Heart took a pause for a restructuring of the organization. We want to have consistency now. We want people to be able to depend on us to have their loved ones here.”

Burnley has big plans for Have A Heart and her enthusiasm is contagious. Her goals include building their clientele, breathing life back into the weekend respite program, starting a summer camp and helping clients gain new daily living skills with a variety of fun programming.

According to its website, Have A Heart “promotes an environment that is nurturing, creative and provides for socialization of our clients through personalized daycare for adults with physical and developmental disABILITIES.”

The nonprofit organization:

• Prides itself in having a staff-to-client ratio that promotes better personalized care than other adult day service providers.
• Is certified by the State of Wisconsin
• Has a relaxing country environment with large areas for relaxation, activities, life skills training, an adaptive gym and more.
• Offers a 5-acre farm featureing communal spaces, activities and cooking areas, and rest areas with private beds.
• Takes clients to participate in at least two community outings per month.

Burnley is brimming with ideas and joy for her new position and is pleased to be able to ply her skills in fundraising, honed at Hudson Hometown Music Fest. She hopes to build a sensory room, update the adaptive gym with a climbing wall and add fencing outside, to name a few projects.

With such an ambitious to-do list, Burnley was ecstatic to learn that Have A Heart was the recipient of the Power of 100 Women – Hammond/Roberts $10,000 spring impact award, given to the organization last week.

“It’s kind of lifesaving; we’re pretty happy about that,” she smiled.

The property was founded as a facility for children in the 1990s but evolved over the years to become an adult daycare facility in 2008. Burnley and staff member Lindsay Allen, of Ellsworth, work with a host of volunteers who make Have A Heart a homey place for people’s loved ones.

Burnley is appreciative of the farm setting (they are surrounded by the Huppert and Peterson dairy farms) because of the peace it provides. This summer clients will get to put their hands in the dirt and try raised bed vegetable gardening.

“I like the fact that it’s out here in a farm setting, secluded, away, homier,” Burnley said.

She also stresses teaching life skills, such as doing laundry, brushing their teeth, purchasing groceries at Aldi, ordering food at Culver’s, going to the post office and cleaning up after themselves.

“We take trips into the community as much as possible, to give them that real-world experience,” she said.

Have A Heart, which takes payment for services from sources such as IRIS, Inclusa, Medicaid and private pay, can have up to 30 clients in its spacious facilities.

“What sets us apart from others is we have a 4 to 1 ratio (clients to staff),” Burnley said. “We are more one-on-one. Some people need more attention.”

The facilities, which are overseen by Have A Heart Board members Paula Reed, Cece Gillis and Debbie Porter, boast an adaptive gym building, a day program building with an art area, kitchen, TV area and beds; a barn used for special events such as bingo and movie nights, and a farmhouse with a full kitchen, office space and apartment.

The day program runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday with transportation provided for St. Croix and Pierce County residents. The Saturday respite program is two Saturdays a month from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with plans to expand the offering if the demand is there. Transportation is not available on weekends.

“Like the day program, the respite program gives people a break where they can send their loved ones off for a day of fun and activities,” Burnley said. “We’re going to start our summer program in June. Individuals with disabilities can go to high school until they’re 21, so we take 18 and older.”

Plans for a summer camp are in the works, along with fun activities like going out for lunches, volunteering in the community and going to the parks. Have A Heart takes drop-in clients as well.

Have A Heart will have a booth at the Hudson High School Expo May 5 and is sponsoring a hole for the Hudson Lions Golf Tournament on June 1. Burnley said plans are being made to host movie and bingo fundraising nights at Have A Heart, so watch their social media for those events.

To learn more about Have A Heart, visit haveaheartinc.org