Victoria Taylor is a scouser. Now, just a minute before you take offense. In Liverpool, England, where Victoria was born, scouser is not an insult. It is merely a descriptive adjective that denotes a Liverpool native. Scouse itself is a stew which is identified with the city and, thus, the nickname.

Victoria won’t be in England, but she will be at Valley Regional High School on Saturday, May 18 for the fifth annual Lantern Illumination Celebration sponsored by A Little Compassion, an organization which focuses on the needs of neurodiverse young adults and operates The Nest Coffee House in Deep River.

Located on Main Street, The Nest gives neurodiverse teens and young adults valuable working experience in the varied jobs involved with running a flourishing café. Victoria is a regular Nest volunteer throughout the year.

Participants at the Lantern Illumination Celebration will create a lantern into which a small battery-operated light will be placed. All the lighted lanterns will then be placed in a large grid, known as an illuminarium. The Nest community sees the illuminarium as lighting the way for people of all abilities.

Starting at 6:30 p.m., the celebration is a free, community oriented event, although contributions can be made to the work of the organization.

While The Nest serves coffee, it is far more than a coffee shop. The Nest also hosts a variety of social activities from Lego nights to a STEM program and even a cooking demonstration by famed chef Jacques Pépin. Moreover, since activities are open to anyone who wants to join, it gives the general population an opportunity to meet and interact with the neurodiverse community, in addition to giving neurodiverse young adults, who are often isolated, the opportunity to socialize.

According to Rich Wells, development director at The Nest, participants in its programs come from areas from Guilford to Mystic and up to Middletown. Jane Moen, executive director of A Little Compassion, adds that young adults from at least 27 communities participate in activities and programs at The Nest.

This is the fifth annual illumination event, but it features a significant difference. Prior events, except for the year a virtual celebration was held because of COVID, have taken place outdoors at the pond at Plattwood Park in Deep River. Since the lanterns will not float on a pond this year, Victoria points out they will not be wet and participants can take them home.

Victoria, who lives in Deep River, came to the United States in the mid-1980s. Now, she works with outreach through various health agencies and hospitals with clients who need assistance in coping with some of the challenges of everyday life. These can range from how to order off a menu and use silverware correctly in a restaurant to how to react appropriately in social situations.

“It can be anything from etiquette to how to get a job,” Victoria says. “We try to do things that interest them.”

Trips can include a stop at Ray of Light Farm, an animal sanctuary in East Haddam where Victoria made her own discovery by finding out just how cuddly guinea pigs can be.

Usually, Victoria has three clients at a time, spending as much as four hours twice a week with each of them. She describes her work as therapeutic support services.

“The problems are always different. Some people are on the spectrum, and most suffer from anxiety,” Victoria says.

Victoria often brings the people she works with to programs at The Nest.

“It is an absolute godsend for them,” she says. “The point is they are not judged here.”

Victoria also points to the informal sharing sessions at The Nest for the parents of neurodiverse people.

“They often do not know all the kinds of services that are out there,” she says.

This is not the first career Victoria has had in this country. She started out as a decorator for cruise ship and then worked as a gym trainer and exercise group leader. Victoria got into her current field some 15 years ago as a volunteer, developing a program for teenage girls she called Teen Zone.

For Victoria, the rewarding part of her current work is seeing the progress her clients make. Recently, Victoria encountered a young woman she had worked with who is now in college.

“She threw her arms around me, and said she had missed me, and she was fine,” Victoria recalls. “That really makes me feel good.”