Our daughter, Amy Jean Gibbs, inspired the Cardinal’s Nest. Amy is an eighteen-year-old who is under the umbrella of Cerebral Palsy, and is mentally challenged. While living in South Minneapolis, we use to take her a club called the Wolf’s Den. It was an outlet for people with disabilities similar Amy to go, and enjoy the atmosphere the club offered. Since moving to the Blaine area, it was hard for us to take her to the Wolf’s Den, and Amy lost contact with a lot of her friends. After investigating the area for a safe place to go, we found out there was not much available for people with special needs. So the idea for the Cardinal’s Nest was born.
The Cardinal’s Nest will provide a clean and safe place for the physical and mentally challenge to go. The club will be therapeutic for these people by providing a network of new friends, a chance to practice social, money, dressing and communication skills just to name a few. It will also provide a network for the parents, and caregivers so that they can exchange numbers and information. Most of all it will be a place that they can call their own, without being shunned, because of their disabilities.
Club Guidelines
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Parents and caregivers must be responsible for the people they bring.
- There will be no smoking in the club.
- Foul language will not be allowed in the club.
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Everyone must the pay the entrance fee, except for the parents and caregivers.
- No drugs are allowed in the club.
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Everyone must dress and act appropriately at all times – no revealing clothing
- Hours are from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM every Monday except for holidays.
The entrance fee for the club is $4.00 per person (except parents and caregivers). If they bring a can of food, the price will be $3.00. This is so at the end of each month the canned goods will go to the nearest Food Shelf. They will be able to buy food at the club (menu and prices have not been officially made up at this time). The monies from the door will go towards birthday parties, a prom, and certain outings (like ballgames and etc.). We are hoping that parents and caregivers will be willing to help in making the club successful.
We have been in contact with some of the professional ball clubs in the Twin Cities area for their help, and are hopeful that some of the players can come to sign autographs for the members.
We are looking for some funding for the club. We will need a PA system needed to play the music CD’s, to have the logo put on Sweatshirts, T-shirts, and to have the entrance board made up with the logo on it. We would also like to some funding to help pay for the award for the logo contest. Any other funding will come out of the entrance fee once the club is started, such as the prom party, outings, etc.
For more information call Edward at 763-755-4123 or Deb at 763-571-4379.
