Higher Life Center

Higher Life Center

The Higher Life Center is an enrichment Center for adults with mental challenges who are past school age. Clients experience a higher life when stimulated physically, mentally and socially. The Higher Life Center has served these adults since September 1990.

The non-profit center is a ministry of Vineville Baptist Church, funded by tuition and donations.

The Higher Life Center offers a place for clients to feel good about themselves and to make friends with others of similar abilities and interests. When clients attend Higher Life, the caregivers have time to do other things, including resting from the demands of caring for special needs family members. Friendship and respite for families are tremendously important benefits!

The Physical Facility
The Higher Life Center is located at 124 Hines Terrace. The facility is handicap-accessible, but we do not currently provide services for wheelchair-bound clients due to staffing and transportation issues.

Enrollment
Application forms are available from the Higher Life Center or the Vineville Baptist Church office. A copy is also included in the Parent/Guardian’s Handbook. Make an appointment with Higher Life staff  to bring the prospective client to the Center to visit the facility and meet the other clients. When there is an opening, the staff and Chairman of the Higher Life Ministry Team will discuss the compatibility of the applicant with the current clients, and whether the program will be appropriate for the applicant. 

Enrollment Guidelines
The Higher Life Ministry Team and Director will consider enrollment based on the following guidelines, the application, and compatibility of the applicant with the current clients.

  • To ensure quality care and instruction, enrollment is limited to ten clients. Other applicants will be added to a waiting list.
  • Clients must walk on their own.
  • Clients must be able to take care of their own toileting needs.
  • Clients must be able to follow instructions, and communicate their personal needs to the staff.
  • Clients must show physical and intellectual abilities to take part in activities such as aerobics.
  • Clients must follow the policies such as those defining good grooming habits.  Policies are listed in the Parent/Guardian Handbook.
  • Parents or guardians are responsible for transportation and a daily sack lunch.
  • Parents must maintain medical insurance on applicant.

Tuition and Schedule
The Higher Life Center is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., year around. The Center is usually open when the church offices are open, but in case of weather emergencies the Director and church pastoral staff may deem it wise to close.

The Center is closed on the following ten church holidays:  New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Monday after Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the day after, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Current tuition is $350 per month. The Center offers a quality program for such an affordable cost! Please note that tuition does not pay all the costs of operation.

Tuition is due on the first day of each month, with checks payable to Vineville Baptist Church. Tuition may be given to the Higher Life Center Director or to the Church Financial Secretary. Any of these people will write a receipt. The church does not bill for services.

Activities
Higher Life programs are planned to keep clients active physically and mentally. The Director’s focus is on daily living skills: showing good manners in all situations, following directions, using the microwave, cooking simple meals & desserts, sharing, caring for plants, eating with proper behavior, learning the best foods for good health, following good grooming rules, reading a calendar, developing spirituality, and growing in awareness of the world around them.  Higher Life clients also benefit from participation in the News-2-You program, which provides special needs individuals with a weekly newspaper in a variety of formats designed to help in learning about issues and events going on in their world.  

Each client has access to a PC in a well-equipped computer room. Each week, the clients visit the church library where, with help, they select books on their intellectual levels. Clients participate in aerobics, ride a stationary bike, play basketball in the church gym, and walk around the neighborhood to maintain strength, endurance and motor abilities. The clients and the teacher/s eat lunch together every day while they practice social skills.

Awards
The Arc Macon (formerly known as Advocacy Resource Center, Inc – Macon) awarded the Religious Service Award to our Higher Life Center in 1994, 2000, and 2009.

For additional information regarding the Higher Life Center, contact Vineville Baptist Church, (478) 745-8510 (direct) or (478) 743-9366 (receptionist).