I knew right away. I was like, this is where God wants us. It just seemed more  than what I expected. I can be kind of an anxious person when it comes to how  my kids are behaving around others and just wanting to make sure that you  know they're being respectful and understood. And a lot of anxiety comes with  raising children with autism because we want others to see the beauty in them,  and that anxiety can just be overwhelming, where sometimes we would just find  it easier to stay home. But yeah, we longed for the community and where we felt at home and just where we could just be ourselves and let go of those anxieties. 

Pastor Dave Vander Woude - You know, we started this church because we  knew that those impacted by disability really are missing out, and the church  overall is missing out in what it means to be part of a church family. And so we  really started thinking about what it could look like to have a church of all  abilities, right? So regardless of being impacted by disability or not coming  together as one church, 

I had been praying for a long time just looking for a community where our whole  family could use their gifts and just like being able to come and be understood  and yeah, like, oh, that's, this is what I've been looking for, or we've been looking for, I was overwhelmed by how people responded with such grace, and I went  from feeling suffocated to feeling like I can just breathe and know that my kids  are okay and they're safe, and that people are here and they're they see The  beauty in them, and it just feels like family. Oakley is vacuuming now, and he  brings a shirt and wears it, and so he kind of feels like he's had some ownership  of what's going on. PJ really likes it, because she's been craving just any kind of structured environment, like a classroom, and Ezra has, like, made friends with  some other girls, and I can see how they feel understood, and they feel like,  yeah, like they have a place they belong. And this has been nurturing to our  marriage too. It's just a ripple effect when your kids are loved and accepted and  understood. It ripples out to like, the marriage and yeah, other aspects of our  life. It was a need that needed to be taken care of, and it was, it is, yeah, we  were missing this from our life before and city hope has found a way for us to  add it back to our lives. I think that our world can so greatly be changed by  churches that are willing to say we are for all abilities. When people see that  there's not just a spot they can come to, but a family that they get to be part of,  that they're needed in that excites me. It's a great place where people truly feel  like they don't just have a spot to be, but they have a spot to belong. 



Last modified: Monday, April 20, 2026, 10:05 AM