Dekalb Neighbor News Paper  July 17, 2002

By Ashlye Hylton, Dekalb Neighbor Staff Writer

A Labor of Love

Service designed to change lives

Sally Buchanan lived in various homes with developmentally disabled individuals for years.

In efforts to develop a program to help improve the quality of life for children and adults facing special challenges, Mrs. Buchanan worded for free. Living with her husband David and two you g daughters, Heather and Courtney, the Tucker native devoted herself to helping disabled individuals to achieve normal and healthy lives.

Now serving as the executive director and co-founder of Creative Community Services Inc. , Mrs.. Buchanan this year celebrates 20 years of service with the non-profit agency.

In 1982, she helped establish the Stone Mountain-based organization which at the time provided independent living support to adults with disabilities.

The DD, Developmental Disabilities program now serves children and adults, ages 4 and older, with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. 

Expanding its children's services in 1988, Creative Community Services became the first licensed therapeutic foster care agency in Georgia.

In developing Therapeutic Foster Care program, Creative Community Services aimed to seek out the most difficult cases, often times involving children who are considered emotionally disturbed due to a history of abuse and neglect, or who have developmental disabilities such as autism.

The program places foster children in loving foster homes, well equip to handle special-needs children.  

Creative Community Service family consultants are allowed no more than eight cases at a time and foster families are required to participate in several hours of specialty training courses in order to become eligible for the program.

"These children have been abused and neglected, and most of the time have has a number of failed placements," Mrs.. Buchanan said. "We have a lot of requirements for our foster parents.  You can't look at it as just a job, but you also can't look at it as just a mission, because it's a job and a mission.

Creative Community Services currently serves 48 foster children and 80 developmentally disabled adults and their families, as well as 87 foster care families.  For more information call (866) 618-2533