The Honeycomb restaurant and Group Living Inc. provide unique opportunities for people who are developmentally disabled to become active members within the local community.
Group Living Inc. was founded in 1973 by a group of parents whose grown children had special needs. The program originally consisted of the Beehive and a group home facility.
In 1975, Group Living merged with the Clark County Adult Activity Center, which offered day programs for adults with disabilities.
Today Group Living owns and operates the Adult Development Center, the Beehive store, the Honeycomb restaurant, two cleaning services and does contract work with local builders. However, they no longer operate a group home.
The program is a non-profit with a license from the state, headed by a board of directors.
“The big goal of Group Living is normalization,” said Todd Lucas, manager of the Honeycomb, “to help clients live to the utmost of their abilities.”
Group Living has between 55-60 clients at any one time. Of these clients, 26 percent own their own homes, condos or apartments. This number is high and is an example of the program’s success.
There are 50 full-time staff and about that many part-time staff employed by Group Living to help with clients, ensuring that all needs are met.
“We are here for the clients,” said Hattie Janek, assistant director of Group Living.
In 1995 the Honeycomb restaurant opened. The restaurant employs about 10 clients at any one time as well as students from Ouachita and other staff. The clients learn basic work skills like showing up on time, setting tables, taking orders and preparing food.
A fire in 2005 damaged the Honeycomb and the Group Living offices, and destroyed the Beehive store, which employs about 30 developmentally disabled people. With help from the community and hard work from the Group Living staff, the offices and the Beehive were temporarily relocated within two weeks.
The Honeycomb was moved down the street to its present location at 705 Main St. and re-opened in November of 2006.
The menu varies from day to day, with the exception of salads and sandwiches.
“We do all our own baking,” Janek said. “It’s always fresh.”
The restaurant is also “very active in our community,” Janek said. They do catering for parties, dinners and local events.
Group Living is currently in the middle of a capital campaign, “Be Our Guest,” to raise money for further renovation and expansion. As part of the campaign they are asking locals to host a party and ask for a minimum donation of $25 per person.
“We provide the invites, envelopes and wristbands,” Lucas said. The wristbands serve as a ticket to the January 2009 campaign ending celebration.
Also, the program welcomes volunteers. You can help out at the Beehive or the main offices. “We appreciate volunteers,” Janek said.
Students interested in volunteering can contact the Group Living office at (870)246-5849 or check out the Web site, www.groupliving.org. Anyone interested in hosting a capital campaign party can contact Todd Lucas at tlucas@groupliving.org.
