It’s been quite a year for one of the shoreline’s newest non-profits, Sound Life Connections Inc., which offers vocational, communication, and life skills training for young adults with disabilities.

To cap it off, co-founder Tara Beatty invites the shoreline community to the inaugural Sound Life Connections Gala set for Sunday, Dec. 10 and hosted by Nuzzo’s Farm at 736 East Main Street in Branford.

As a new non-profit, pulling together a great gala requires plenty of support, and that’s what is making this event even more special, says Tara.

“It’s going to be a great night of dinner and dancing and celebrating,” says Tara. “Nuzzo’s is being very generous in hosting our gala at their beautiful venue, and we have a great live band, the Rum Runners, donating their time, and a delicious dinner provided by La Cucina.”

Tickets, at $125, include dinner and drinks and are available now at the event link online at soundlifeconnections.org. Platinum, gold, silver, and bronze sponsorships are also available. In addition, tax-deductible donations are always gratefully accepted on the website.

Tara, a special education teacher of 23 years who has worked in Guilford Public Schools (GPS) for over 20 years, co-founded Sound Life Connections with her friend and colleague, Keri Climie. Keri has over 23 years of experience as a speech and language pathologist and has worked in GPS for over 15 years.

Their unique non-profit is an evolution of an idea for independent programming they first offered during the summer of 2022 and dubbed Sound Life Skills. After a successful start, they decided to move Sound Life Skills to a non-profit model as Sound Life Connections Inc., which received its official 501-c3 non-profit status in September.

Built upon a community of families and individuals, including those who grew from their elementary through high school years, along with Tara and Keri, Sound Life Connections is designed to support young adults with disabilities from across the shoreline as they transition in their life journey toward adulthood. The support is offered at a place where they can gather to socialize, train, and receive services to help them become competitively employed, participating members of their community.

That place is located at 116 Whitfield Street in Guilford, where Sound Life Connections hosted its celebratory open house in August. The site is home to an inclusive community in which young adults with intellectual disabilities, autism, and other developmental disabilities will feel welcomed and valued through employment and social opportunities. One very exciting area of that plan involves adding in The WAVE (Work, Advocate, Value, Empower), a gelato/treat shop that’s making waves with its concept.

As Tara and Keri describe on the Sound Life Connections website, the shop will employ young adults with disabilities and provide vocational training opportunities, while also collaborating with other town businesses to sell local favorites, all at a welcoming location that will draw in the community.

As they describe it, “We want the The WAVE to be a welcoming and safe ‘hang-out’ for all residents. We will host social events that bring people of all abilities together for fun and engaging activities.”

Proceeds from the inaugural Sound Life Connections Gala are earmarked to fund the purchase of gelato-making equipment, which will be a foundational component of the shop. Bringing in the equipment will bring The WAVE to life, says Tara.

“We’re trying to raise money to buy the gelato equipment, and we’re really hoping to get everything in place during the winter and spring so we will be open by next summer.”

While The WAVE is still in the works, Sound Life Connections is working with young adults with disabilities to assist them, while also opening doors in the community to collaborations and opportunities.

“We already have some great sponsors who have been working with us,” says Tara. “We’ve really had a great response from the community in terms of being open to partnering with us and providing us with all of these resources. It’s been a really positive response from the community, and we’re really excited.”

Young adults ages 14 and up are connecting with programming and events offered at Sound Life Connections. That includes an age group of some who generally fall between traditional programming gaps.

“A lot of programs are for those age 22 and up, and there seems to be social skills groups for younger kids, but that high school-and-up age is where it sort of falls off,” says Tara.

By offering regular social gatherings such as its popular karaoke nights, Sound Life Connections is also creating a great space fostering acceptance and awareness of people with disabilities in the community.

“Our karaoke night is really expanding and getting some new faces in here. We have all ages coming in and from different towns,” says Tara.

Another component of the Sound Life Connections journey is its founders’ hope to expand awareness and provide training for local businesses to increase the employment rate of individuals with cognitive and developmental disabilities on the shoreline. Current statistics provided by Sound Life Connections note that there is an 80% unemployment rate of individuals with developmental disabilities.

Learn more at soundlifeconnections.org or follow Sound Life Connections on Facebook.