Matt Hamilton/The Daily CitizenArtist Paige Cobb, center, helps Cross Plains Community Partner participants April Summerville and Nikki Smith with their art recently at the John Davis Recreation Center.  

DALTON, Ga. — Sharon Bennett said Cross Plains Community Partner “saved my life.”

Bennett, 47, of Dalton, has visited Cross Plains, a Dalton agency that provides day services for adults with developmental disabilities, for more than three years. She is one of the individuals who is expected to benefit from the newly established FRIEND program. FRIEND is an acronym for Furthering Relationships and Integrating Elements of Needs and Desires.

The program seeks “to match community members with an adult who has an intellectual disability, in an effort to enhance and grow the individual’s community involvement and personal self-enrichment,” a United Way of Northwest Georgia website states. Cross Plains is a United Way agency.

Seara Adair, the volunteer coordinator for Cross Plains who’s leading the FRIEND program, said officials hope to focus on “natural friendships.”

“We want to nourish that kind of relationship rather than forcing people together,” she said.

Deborah Conway, executive director of Cross Plains, said they want to provide services in a community-based model.

“For many years we provided services in a facility, but when we segregated people, they weren’t getting the same kind of fulfillment as going in the community and being able to make relationships,” Conway said.

Volunteer hours are between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Volunteers can visit the agency, accompany individuals on community trips and maintain contact through emails, phone calls or social media.

“We’d really like to find people who are willing to commit their time,” Adair said.

“It (Cross Plains) is a very community-based program and we want to continue to remain that so we encourage volunteers to be out in the community,” she said.

Participating individuals come to Cross Plains in the morning before separating into groups and going out for activities. Those activities include art projects and mall trips, Adair said.

To volunteer, apply online at www.volunteernwga.org, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CrossPlainsFRIEND or pick up an application at Cross Plains at 2738 Underwood Road in Dalton.

Conway said the effort is something they’ve wanted to do for awhile.

“At Cross Plains we’ve talked about thinking outside the box innovatively to help naturally build friendships,” she said. “When we had the opportunity for a VISTA to fulfill that function it was a win-win for us all.” VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America, a program through AmeriCorps, which is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that promotes service to others.

Adair is a VISTA representative assigned to Cross Plains for a year.

“It’s a program where you’re assigned to a nonprofit in your community for a year and work on a range of things to build capacity amongst the nonprofits and expand volunteer opportunities,” she said.

Conway said they are “thrilled” to have Adair.

“It’s our first year participating, we’re excited and looking for some good outcomes,” she said.

Adair said when she first started working at Cross Plains she expected there to be a set schedule for those the agency serves.

“It’s not like that, they do what they want, and I think it makes them thrive,” she said. “Sometimes a lot of them want to stay at the center and watch music videos or do other things.”

Conway said it’s important to give individuals a “choice about what to do instead of telling them.”

Cross Plains currently serves approximately 75. Last year there were more than 100.

The agency also helps individuals find work.

Dalton resident Dustin Allen, 24, attends Cross Plains in the mornings and works at Dalton State College part time.

“I love my job,” said Allen, who works in the cafeteria.

Allen said he’s thankful for the directors at Cross Plains.

“I go out a lot in the community and do things, then I go to work. It’s fun,” he said.