A Fifth Grader’s Heart for Ann’s Nest

Fifth grader Levi Otis recently won the Grand Prize in the Kiwanis Club Essay Contest after writing about a nonprofit organization that matters deeply to him: Ann’s Nest.

As the son of Executive Director Mary Grace McCaskill, Levi has seen firsthand why safe, dignified housing for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities is so important to families. His thoughtful essay earned him a $200 award, which he chose to donate back to Ann’s Nest. Mary Grace had the honor of accepting the check at the ceremony.

We are so proud of Levi for using his voice to advocate for adults with IDD and the future Ann’s Nest hopes to build.

Read Levi’s award winning essay below.

Ann's Nest
Levi Otis

70 percent of young adults with IDDs (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) nationally still live with their parents! Every day parents wonder what will happen to my child when I’m gone. If you put yourself in their shoes it would be difficult to do regular things like focus in school, and it would be entirely different from our everyday lives. The stuff we do every day without thinking about it might be a big deal to them. This is why I honestly think you should give the money to Ann's Nest, because they have an extraordinary team and the money can help so many souls, and people in life.

My first reason on why you should give the money to Ann’s nest is because they are a place that are close to the towns in the area. One of my neighbors and our close friends had a son with severe autism. They were getting older so they wondered what if I can’t take care of him. Then they had to take him to a living place, but it was around 3 hours away. Unfortunately they couldn’t visit him as frequently as when he lived with them, and saw them every day. One day when he was there he was in a room by himself, but he had a seizure. The workers didn’t know what was happening because they weren’t watching him. When they came it was too late. Sadly he passed away. His parents couldn’t have seen him because it was too far away.

My second reason is it's harder to live by yourself, and to do everyday things if you have a disability, or autism. 87% of young adults with autism live with their parents after high school. 19% of people with autism live by themselves. With autism it can be extremely difficult to learn certain subjects in school. It can be insanely amazing how their brain knows some awesome facts about stuff, they can learn so many subjects as well.

My final reason on why you should donate to Ann’s Nest, is because Ann’s Nest will help everyone in so many more ways than just learning how to live by themselves. They help them learn some life skills that may be difficult to them. They help them learn life skills, such as getting dressed in the mornings. Also they help them learn how to talk to people and interact with people they haven’t met. Ann's nest is guided by faith to try and help the world and everyone they can.

In conclusion, almost 3 quarters of people with disabilities over the entire world, still live with their guardians. That’s why Ann’s Nest is building a living place for young adults to get taken care of. I truly believe you should help them, because when their parents can’t take care of them, they will have a place to go.