GENEVA – First Baptist Church of Geneva on Sunday invited the public to take in its new space for youth programming and children with special needs.

Several couples and families walked through the two-level, 12,000-square-foot addition during a Sunday open house at the church’s west campus, 3435 Keslinger Road, Geneva.

The space, which first was open for Sunday services on Jan. 11, features a renovated children’s area, seven multipurpose rooms, a large dividable cornerstone room used by the junior high ministry, and two state-of-the-art rooms for children with special needs, said John Harper, the church’s director of facilities and information technology.

The west campus addition is part of the church’s larger expansion project called Growing to Serve. The addition will better allow the church to serve special needs families through two programs, Buddy Break and Masterpiece Ministries, Harper said.

Masterpiece Ministries serves special needs children during the 9:15 a.m. Sunday service at the church’s west campus, and assistance also is available by request during the 10:45 a.m. service, said Jaimie Valentini, the church’s special needs coordinator.

Buddy Break is a free respite program held about once a month in which the church cares for special-needs children and their siblings for three hours while their families and caregivers get some downtime.

The church started offering the national program about a year ago, and interest in it continues to grow. The church served 42 children during its most recent Buddy Break, Valentini said.

“We have families traveling 20, 30 miles for this,” Harper said.

Sally Marino and her family travel more than 20 miles from Hinckley to attend services at the church’s west campus. The Marinos have been members of the church since 2010 because it offers programming for children with special needs.

One of Marino’s sons, Joey, 9, is part of the Masterpiece Ministry. He has cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder, Marino said.

“It’s really blessed us just to watch [the church programming] grow,” Marino said. “We’ve been very accepted and loved and cared for.”

Marino said the church’s new space looks beautiful. One of the benefits of the two special-needs rooms is a large changing table in each of their bathrooms, Marino said. This is important because some older children with special needs have to be changed at times, she said.

The special needs rooms, one for ages 8 and younger and the other for ages 9 and older, also include a quiet room and a ball pit. The 9-and-up room has a large interactive touch-screen TV and a small trampoline.

St. Charles resident Carey Von Qualen took her two sons to see the addition after the open house was mentioned during Sunday services.

“It’s wonderful,” Von Qualen said. “It’s so bright and inviting for kids.”

Know more

For information about special-needs programming at First Baptist Church of Geneva, email jvalentini@fbcg.com or visit fbcg.com/ministries/special-needs.