Transition Apartment residents showcase talents at SSC Library

Everyone has a special talent. For Molly her talent came through her work in Miss Amazing, which she won last October. Tyler has an eye for digital photography work, ranging from portraits to landscape works. 


If you talk with Thomas for just a few moments, you’ll find he’s talented in his knowledge of professional wrestling, specifically his favorite wrestler John Cena. Give him a second, and he’ll be able to mimic much of Cena’s main entrance. Becca’s special ability is singing and dancing, teaching everyone with a pair of left feet the newest and coolest dance steps. Cody will talk about a dog biscuit business, but also the many nuances of his favorite films from Pixar and Disney. 

Beth’s special ability is pet care, includes bathing and cleaning the animals, as well as feeding them nutritional foods and general care. And for Maria, she’ll let you know anything and everything about the fashion world. “I’m all about fashion and things like nails,” she said. 

Molly, Tyler, Thomas, Becca, Cody, Beth and Maria are residents of Transition Apartments, a residency for students with special needs who are at Year 13 of their education or have graduated from high school. On March 14, the residents presented both their needs and abilities at the South Sioux City Public Library as part of Special Needs Awareness Month. Outside of the entrance to the library, the group worked on a display featuring items from the course of the year, from projects and Special Olympics medals to a wheel chair and cane. 

Patty Teager of Transition Apartments said the display is intended to give people an idea of what some of the residents go though on a daily basis. A resident Ernesto uses a can and his imagination “to see the world.”

The day also allowed the residents and staff to thank members of the Community Classroom, which include the library, the Norm Waitt Sr. YMCA, the Special Olympics, Wal-Mart and the busing system. The Library, YMCA and Special Olympics were recognized with members of each organization accepting an award from one of the residents. Teager said places like these are known as ‘forever school’ because while some of those people may be gone, “they will have this in their lives for a long time.”

“When we got this started, I remember one guy in the Transition Apartments had an overdue book,” said library director Dave Mixdorf. “And he was petrified about turning in that book because he didn’t know what to do. So he came and turned it back in. And it was 10 cents. And he comes in every day, does his studies by himself, he checks out stuff. And that is exactly what the goal is.”

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