Extra Special People: Building Community and Inclusive Experiences for the Greater Savannah Area



By : Claire Sandow

Extra Special People (ESP) launched in Savannah in January 2025, building a foundation for transformative experiences for people with disabilities. Through social gatherings like monthly family dinners, 360 club programming and summer camp, they provide a much-needed space for community and recreation for people with disabilities and their families. ESP supports families in Chatham, Effingham, Bryan and surrounding counties, giving participants of all ages joyous and memorable experiences that celebrate them for who they are.

“ESP is so multifaceted. There’s more to it than just getting together once a month because there is the programming: the afterschool program, Java Joy and the camps,” says Becky Brown, member of the ESP Savannah Champions Board. “There’s no age limit and it’s for all abilities.”

Family dinners allow guests to meet others who live with disabilities. When families walk through the doors, they are greeted with cheers and unrelenting joy by volunteers who are equally excited to be there. Volunteers also assist with serving food, helping to carry plates for parents and clearing the tables after the meal. Each dinner is sponsored by a corporate donor who provides a catered meal at no cost to families.
 

360 Club events provide a few hours of respite for caregivers while giving participants a safe place to play and socialize with themed activities. Each participant is paired with a buddy: a volunteer who helps them enjoy the event to the fullest. In the fall, ESP plans to expand club events to encompass wraparound programming with afternoon enrichment activities like music therapy, arts and crafts and recreation.

Java Joy offers employment opportunities for adults with disabilities through its mobile coffee cart that can be booked for special events. In the greater Savannah area, the cart has made stops at Great Oaks Bank, BankSouth, Omega Construction and the Georgia Ports Authority offices, serving up coffee, hot cocoa and hugs.

This summer, children ages 4 and up will be able to attend two weeks of summer day camp in Savannah. The program serves kids who might not otherwise be able to go to camp, accommodating anyone who may need medications, mobility equipment or other supports. Children ages 8 and up have the opportunity to attend Camp Hooray, a week of overnight camp at Camp Twin Lakes in Rutledge, Ga. In the future, ESP will build its own universally accessible camp in Jefferson, Ga. to serve its participants, built on land donated by a supporter.

Club programs and camps are available for participants at a fraction of the cost of the for-profit sector by utilizing volunteers from local schools and churches. Scholarships are available to eliminate financial barriers that might otherwise prevent participation.

The Road to Bringing ESP to Savannah

ESP was originally founded in Athens, Ga. in 1986 serving 21 families. It then expanded into Atlanta and Rome in 2020. After nurturing the programs in these three cities, it was time to expand.

Anna Salter and Becky Brown were an instrumental part of making this expansion happen. As speech-language pathologists and co-owners of Coastal Pediatric Therapies, they recognized the need that the Savannah area had for the organization. They also visited the ESP headquarters in Athens and were blown away by what they saw.

“It’s pure joy, all the time, and that’s what these kids need,” says Becky. “These individuals need to feel loved and welcomed and included and supported.”

After a feasibility study that collected quantitative data that took into account the population in need of services, proximity to universities, a committed business community and volunteer base, and the ability to sustain inclusive programming, Anna and Becky had to begin the fundraising process for startup capital.

“Anna and I are speech therapists, not fundraisers, so we didn’t have a lot of experience in that. We started out going to businesses, and saying, ‘This is what we want to do. We want this for Savannah. We need this.’ But we didn't have anything to show them except a video,” says Becky. “It ended up initially being private donors that got us started: someone who had a child with special needs or knew someone who did.”

By the end of 2024, they had crossed the fundraising finish line. A preview event in November 2024 drew more than 60 families and by spring 2025, nearly 150 families had joined the fold.

Building the Team

While Anna and Becky were fundraising, Monicah Starr was teaching high school special education in Richmond Hill and operating Inclusion Avenue, a venture she founded because she saw the need for job opportunities for her students after they graduated. She discovered the Java Joy program and reached out to ESP headquarters to encourage them to bring Java Joy to the Savannah area. She was pleased to discover that the process of ESP coming to Savannah was already underway.

“Once they were ready to hire, they reached out to see if I would be interested in applying to be a program manager,” says Monicah. “It was really full circle for me to be a part of creating employment opportunities on a bigger scale than I envisioned by myself.”  

Monicah connects all the pieces with each family who joins the fold, meeting with each family one-on-one, identifying the programs that would be a great fit for the participant and coordinating the volunteers needed for each program.

“I love what ESP gives the entire family,” says Monicah. “There’s a huge focus on providing opportunities for the participants but I also enjoy loving on families and connecting with them on a deeper level.”

The search for an executive director was a longer process, but ultimately Jennifer Wilkins was hired for the role. She previously worked in the nonprofit realm with unhoused individuals, but her most recent role was director of operations for Chick-fil-A Midtown, where she promoted excellence in customer service.

“I always knew that I would want to go back into nonprofit work,” says Jennifer. “On New Year’s Eve, I was thinking about what I wanted this last portion of my time in work to be like. And I really felt like I wanted to do something that was more legacy related.”

After praying for direction, she found two messages in her LinkedIn inbox just after the new year, both asking if she would be willing to have a conversation about ESP Savannah and coming on board as executive director.

“It was a very tangible answer to prayer for me,” says Jennifer. “I didn’t even know what ESP was at the time. Within an hour of observing and going through watching different videos, I was just in love with everything that they had going on.”

Jennifer accepted the job just before launch week in January and brings the same level of joyful hospitality to ESP that she championed for customers at Chick-fil-A.

“‘I’m always looking at what we did, how well we did it, and how much better can we do it moving forward,” says Jennifer. “I can look at things we do and say, ‘Wow, that was amazing, but how can it be even more amazing the next time?’”