When REALTOR® and real estate professional Martha M. Gonzalez showed one of her listings in 2016, she had a profound realization as she watched the seller move her 25-year-old daughter, who has a disability, from watching TV in the living room into her bedroom, and then back to the TV after the home showing.
“It hit me that there had to be more to life than this” for young adults with disabilities, says Gonzalez, whose first career was serving as a special education teacher.
Gonzalez wondered what the daughter might do with the next three quarters of her life, and how many other young adults in town have disabilities that impact cognitive, physical and social functioning, such as autism, cerebral palsy and down syndrome. She discussed possibilities with her cousin Leticia Martinez, also a special education teacher.
“Some might be able to attend adult daycare or get a vocational job, but some had little hope of developing a skill or peer friendship,” Gonzalez says. “Their sadness was so clear.”
Back in 2016, as one of the country’s most economically disadvantaged areas, Brownsville, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, lacked options. She researched sustainable models in Houston, six hours away.
The women planned a small supportive community that would teach skills that help members foster independence, form friendships and even find jobs. They also wanted to help family caregivers feel less isolated and overwhelmed.
Gonzalez leased a small storefront and opened the nonprofit BiG Heroes, Inc., in 2017, named for faith as “BiG (Believe in God’s) Heroes.” With help from one parent volunteer, Gonzalez held free classes, three days a week, for seven young women and continued working in real estate, currently at Zavaleta Realty LLC.
Gonzalez developed a Facebook page and website, and before long, the community embraced the idea. The morning prayer circle widened as more young adults showed up. After three years, tuition and grants funded salaries for a program director, two teachers and office staff. Classes evolved as volunteers began offering yoga demonstrations, tips on how to apply makeup and craftmaking, and professionals soon began teaching gardening, production arts and kitchen skills.
Gonzalez formed a board and secured more grants and donations. One couple asked their friends to donate to BiG Heroes in honor of their 50th anniversary and raised $31,000.
Generosity Leads to BiG Heroes’ Expansion
When greater demand necessitated more space, a family donated a church building. Generosity begets generosity. Grants also enhanced wellness programming, such as building an outdoor track and garden beds. Local Girl Scouts donated a chicken coop for two hens, named Lola and Peach. “People often don’t notice you until you’ve been in existence for three years,” says Gonzalez, who obtained a master’s degree in special education.
BiG Heroes has helped 75 young adults metamorphosize and spread their wings like the organization’s symbol, a dragonfly, which emerges from water to grow wings and fly.
Through the program, more than 20 people with disabilities have found jobs—which gives them purpose—at grocery stores, restaurants and in retail and manufacturing. One former member who is legally blind attends a local college. Some have become local celebrities. “Everyone seems to know our members at community events,” Gonzalez says. “We don’t just train young adults; we help them discover their strengths so they can shine in the workplace and in the community.”
Stacey Vidos, 26, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, who has limited speech and is unable to read, is excited to attend classes, make friends and pitch in to wash dishes, fold laundry and wipe tables (tasks she doesn’t enjoy at home). The center has given her family a community and hope. “As parents, you worry,” says her mom, Mary. “Adult daycare might be good, but I wanted more for her than to be with people in their 70s. Here she experiences her youth and has fun.”
Her father, Harold, agrees. “At home, she would have regressed and been bored,” he says. Both parents started as volunteers and now are paid staff. They credit Gonzalez’s selflessness, deep faith and hard work.
As BiG Heroes outgrows the church space, a search is on for another building to accommodate more than the current 41 students.
Other goals will take longer. Gonzalez wants to establish group homes. “One day they’ll be without parents. What happens to them then?”
She also seeks greater change in how people view this cohort. “I want to focus on who they are and what they can do—their abilities—and remove ‘dis’ from ‘disabilities.’ When opportunities exist and someone is given the chance, their abilities rather than disabilities shine,” Gonzalez says.
