KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) – It’s a place filled with learning, fun, and pure joy.

The community celebrated the grand opening of the new Inclusion Community Center in Kaukauna. It’s a critical resource for adults with special needs.

Bryanna Moder and Shannon Diedrick are the co-founders of the new Inclusion Community Center. Both of them said they previously were special education teachers at local schools. They said when kids aged out of services provided by the schools there weren’t many resources for them as they got older.

They said the Inclusion Community Center fills that gap.

“What I was finding through helping the families transition out of high school and into something else was there just wasn’t enough resources in our community,” Moder said.

She said the new community center has many purposes. They teach clients life skills like cooking, cleaning, how to schedule a haircut, how to work an ATM, among many other things.

It’s also a place where clients can have positive social interactions. And of course, they want everybody to have a ton of fun when they’re there. That’s why there’s an air-hockey table, board games, a full bookshelves filled with books, and many other fun things to do.

“Let adults with disabilities be part of a community because they are just as much of a part of our community as anybody else,” said Moder.

She said it was surreal having the grand opening because everything happened so quickly and opening a facility like this was truly one of her dreams. 

“We’re able to promote that engagement to socialize with some that don’t have that opportunity outside our center,” said Moder.

For more information about the Inclusion Community Center, click here.