Heartspring

TJ is a friend to everyone, and in return, everyone at Heartspring was a friend to him.

He's quick to volunteer and help with tasks in his group home, loves to run in Special Olympics events and Miracle League sports, and engages with everyone he sees in the hallway or out in the community.

We will miss his sweet, caring disposition and wish him well on all of his future friendships and endeavors. 💙

Water safety is essential for the children and families we serve.

According to the CDC:
🛟 More children ages 1–4 die from drowning than any other cause of death.
🛟 For children ages 5–14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes.
🛟 Individuals with autism spectrum disorder are 40x more likely to drown compared to the general population.

Our Adapted Physical Education (APE) coaches are now Swim Angelfish Adaptive Swim WhisperersⓇ certified, expanding their expertise in adapting aquatic activities to better support students in our Therapeutic School.

This certification strengthens how we prepare students to safely participate in water‑based activities, building confidence, coordination, and access to experiences on our campus or in the community.

All of our frontline staff are also required to complete the American Red Cross Water Safety for Parents and Caregivers course.

This year in the United States:
1 in 31 children will be diagnosed with autism.
1 in 6 children will receive a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis.

Yet families are often left without clear direction on what comes next.

In a recent Wichita Business Journal podcast, Dan Soliday and Heather Hogan discuss the growing demand for neurodevelopmental services, the challenges families face after receiving a diagnosis, and how Heartspring and its partners are working to create a more connected path to care for Kansas children and families.

🎧 Listen to the full conversation: https://apple.co/4x27feu

Thanks to the collaboration of the Residential, Student Enrichment, and Facilities teams, our students now have valuable vocational opportunities to complete on the weekend.

Whether they're washing transportation vans, planting flowers, or taking out the recycling, our students are working hard to make their campus beautiful AND having fun alongside their staff and peers.

This initiative is helping more of our students access vocational training when they might not be ready to participate as part of their regular school day schedule, and they're just getting started!

We’re proud to share that Moniqueka Holloway, Chief Program Officer at Heartspring, has been named a 2026 Wichita Business Journal Women in Business honoree.

This recognition reflects the strength of leadership behind our programs and the intentional work happening every day to better serve children and families.

Moniqueka’s leadership continues to strengthen Heartspring’s programs to ensure children receive integrated care that is both high-quality and deeply responsive to their needs. Her work is helping shape how we grow, adapt, and lead in pediatric neurodevelopmental services.

We're grateful for her leadership and proud to see it recognized.

Congratulations, Moniqueka!

Join us at RiverFlix for an evening of connection, community, and summer fun. 🎥🍿

Food Trucks at 6:00
Movie Starts at Sunset (approx. 8:30 PM) - featuring GOAT 🐐🏀

We’re proud to be part of experiences that bring families together in accessible, welcoming spaces. We hope to see you there!

For additional event details, head to https://loom.ly/lOgg0fU.

Meet Grecia Nebel, our latest Values Ambassador for Leadership.

With 20+ years supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities, she now uses her experience to coach leaders, strengthen teams, and help make Heartspring a better place for students and staff in our Therapeutic School.

If you’re curious what people‑centered leadership really looks like in action, this is a story worth reading.

Read Grecia’s full story: https://bit.ly/49jwHlB

For more than 13 years, we've had the privilege of serving Ty as a student in our Therapeutic School.

As the (unofficial) mayor of Heartspring, Ty kept a robust calendar of appointments with employees around campus and took his role of checking in on staff very seriously. Granted, he did this while watching Garfield and Christmas movies, but he was consistent in his feedback, telling everyone to "get back to work!"

As he transitions back home, we look back on his incredible progress, like communicating without a communication book, tolerating and eventually requesting hugs, visiting home for the weekend, and going on car rides — his accomplishments are far greater than we could ever fit into his appointment book

Like many of our students, Ty left his mark on Heartspring, and it won't be quite the same without him walking the halls.

May is National Speech‑Language‑Hearing Month and Pediatric Feeding Disorder Month.

We’re grateful for the speech-language pathologists, feeding therapists, and pediatric audiologist at Heartspring who help children communicate, connect, eat safely, and engage more fully with the world around them every day.