Today we’d like to introduce you to Arden Stone.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When I was 17 and in high school, I was part of a mock political convention being held by HISD. We got to create resolutions and argue on the convention floor. I always love a good debate! I think that was the first time that I truly believed I could change the world. And honestly, I don’t think that belief has ever left me. I graduated from Bellaire High School in 1992 and went on to study Political Science at the University of Houston. Go Coogs!
I was born and raised in Texas and every day is about making it better for the generations that come after us. I have been active in volunteering and raising money in Texas for over twenty years. When I first graduated college, my first job was raising money and writing grants for The Seagulls, Inc., a non-profit working with the foster parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Houston and Galveston.
But, I was young and I still believed the only way to truly make change happen, was to get the right politicians elected. So, after a few years working only with non-profits, I moved into political fundraising. I spent the next eight years raising money for multiple political campaigns in Houston, Galveston, and Brazoria County. Politics had been my passion for so long, that I really believed I would spend my entire career there. I was convinced I was going to be the first woman President of the United States. However, once I was working in politics, I realized that change comes from the grassroots efforts of everyday citizens. And after eight years in politics, I decided to move back to working with non-profits.
For the next two years, I worked for Interfaith Caring Ministries before leaving and opening my own consulting firm, SMS Consultants. For the next five years, I consulted with several non-profits working to raise funds and awareness for issues like poverty, empowering young girls, rescuing racehorses, historical preservation, and anti-bullying campaigns.
But in 2013, I had reached a point in my career that I was looking to take my experience and my drive to an organization that directly impacted my family, my life. I think the key to being a successful fundraiser is loving what you do and being truly dedicated to the mission of the organization. That is when I found Best Buddies International.
At the age of 39, my career had come full circle. I was back working for an organization that was dedicated to changing the world for people with IDD, but this time, it meant so much more to me. My husband and I have been blessed with five beautiful children, and our youngest son was diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum when he was three years old. His diagnosis changed the lives of our entire family – for the better. He has taught our family to see the beauty in the simplest parts of life, to be patient and understanding, to see life from someone else’s point of view, to embrace the differences in each other, and most importantly – never believe someone is not capable of amazing accomplishments just because they have an IDD.
I joined Best Buddies in 2013 as the Houston Area Director focusing on growing our presence in Houston through program expansion, volunteer support, and financial giving. In the last five and a half years, we have expanded our school programs across the Greater Houston area to include elementary, middle schools, high schools and colleges, and into new areas like Beaumont, San Antonio, Austin, Bastrop, and Montgomery. We most recently launched the jobs program in Houston and cannot wait to partner with the amazing companies across Houston to create opportunities for integrated employment for people with IDD. We welcome over 1500 students and community members annually to our Friendship Walk in April, and over 400 people to our Gala and Fashion Show in November featuring local celebrities and Best Buddies Ambassadors. We have received unwavering support from local community members like Sarah Pepper, Kealia Ohai, JMac, Carl Lewis, and Logan Lester, who are always encouraging staff, parents and Buddy Ambassadors. We have also established great partnerships with the Sugar Land Skeeters, the Houston Texans, the Houston Dynamo and the Houston Dash, Whataburger, BNY Mellon, and so many others that work alongside us every day to create a more inclusive Houston.
The social, physical and economical inclusion of people with IDD is the key to a productive community. Yes, my son has Autism, but it is not all he is. He is smart and funny, and a computer genius and I am amazed by him every single day. I could not imagine a world that would want to limit him because he has an IDD. He wants the same things out of life that my other four children want. He wants friends, he wants to play football, he wants to grow up and have a job, be successful and get married. Why would anyone want to limit that? That is what drives me every day when I go to work. That is why I fight every day for every opportunity to raise the awareness of our mission, to create inclusion and to raise the funds to grow our programs. I probably won’t be happy until I see the Best Buddies program in every school in the state, or until there is no need for my staff to explain to a company the benefits in hiring someone with an IDD. Every day is a new adventure with my son, and every day there’s another way I can make this world better for him. I’m just trying to change the world, one friendship at a time.
Has it been a smooth road?
Wow, challenges? I think anytime you are trying to change society’s way of thinking, there are obstacles. There are three areas that come to mind. First, overcoming the odds. An estimated 81% of adults (18+) with developmental disabilities do not have a paid job in the community. That is an astonishing number to me, yet we spend countless hours trying to find those companies willing to work with Best Buddies to place a participant in an employment opportunity. Our jobs program places focus beyond the typical jobs in which a person with IDD might be placed. Best Buddies focuses on finding work that matches the job seeker’s interests and talents. Our program secures jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), allowing them to earn an income, pay taxes, and continuously and independently support themselves.
Second, before we can focus on job placements, we have to start with the very basic challenge, mindset. We partner every year with Special Olympics on the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. It is 2019, and we are still fighting to stop the use of the word retarded. Not just with friends, family or in the workplace, but in movies, music, comedy routines. In this line of work, it is hard to fathom sometimes that in a world where we have come so far to protect the rights of so many disenfranchised, the IDD population still remains the most maligned group of individuals, and society isn’t outraged.
The third challenge would have to be the size of the city and the growth in the numbers of non-profits operating in Houston. Texas has been very successful over the years at maintaining a healthy economy and creating new job growth. When there are so many non-profits within a community all working to create a presence, expand their mission, recruit volunteers and raise the necessary funds to support those programs, it is always a challenge to make your mission stand out. Houston is a very large city, with so many surrounding areas included. Sometimes just the vast size of the city can be a challenge to make Best Buddies a household name.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Best Buddies International – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as an organization and what sets you apart from others.
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
The IDD community that Best Buddies serves includes, but is not limited to, people with Down syndrome, autism, Fragile X, Williams syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and other undiagnosed disabilities.
Best Buddies is the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with IDD. Our programs empower the special abilities of people with IDD by helping them form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve public speaking, self-advocacy and communication skills, and feel valued by society.
Best Buddies Friendship programs represent one of our organization’s four key mission pillars. These programs build one-to-one friendships between people with and without IDD, offering social mentoring while improving the quality of life and level of inclusion for a population that is often isolated and excluded. Through their participation, people with IDD form meaningful connections with their peers, gain self-confidence and self-esteem, and share interests, experiences and activities that many other individuals enjoy.
The Best Buddies Jobs program represents the second of our organization’s four key mission pillars, Integrated Employment. This program secures jobs for people with IDD, allowing them to earn an income, pay taxes, and continuously and independently support themselves.
The Jobs program places focus beyond the typical jobs in which a person with IDD might be placed. Best Buddies focuses on finding work that matches the job seeker’s interests and talents.
The third pillar is the Best Buddies Leadership Development program. The programs educate and empower people with and without IDD to become leaders, public speakers, and advocates. Best Buddies passionately believes that its program participants can lead the effort within their community and beyond to build a more inclusive world for people with IDD.
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of Best Buddies, we recently rolled out the fourth pillar of our mission, The Best Buddies Living program. This program fosters an integrated experience for people with and without IDD to become active, contributing citizens who live independently in a dynamic environment where they can learn, grow, and thrive.
The Best Buddies Living program encourages people with and without IDD to live together in a vibrant community that is focused on supporting all residents in accomplishing their life goals and dreams.
What sets us apart from other organizations? I think it is the vision of our organization – To put Best Buddies out of business. Best Buddies envisions a world where people with IDD are so successfully integrated into schools, workplaces, and communities that its current efforts and services will be unnecessary. Until that vision becomes a reality, the organization will continue to educate middle school, high school and college students, community members, corporations and employers about the emotional, functional, and natural needs and abilities of people with IDD.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Houston! I was born and raised here and I think that shapes a lot of who I am. There is just something that comes with being a Texan, and within the state, being from Houston. As a matter of fact, I get teased a lot by other Best Buddies offices across the country that I am everything they imagine it means to be from Texas! And that is something I am proud of. I still volunteer quite a bit across the city with UH Alumni, Cougar Cookers and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I have lived inside the loop and outside the loop and I love every part of Houston. The city population is so diverse, it really drives an amazing culture that is ready for the complete idea of inclusion and it is just like no other city.
What do I like least? Hah! Traffic and construction! As great as Houston is, it is growing every day, and that means traffic! Add in the construction to expand freeways to accommodate that growth and 5 pm becomes a dreaded hour!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1213 W Loop N, Suite 130
Houston, TX 77055 - Website: www.bestbuddies.org/texas
- Phone: 832-673-0306
- Email: ardenstone@bestbuddies.org
- Instagram: bestbuddiestx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestbuddiestx
- Twitter: @BestBuddiesTX
- Other: www.bestbuddiesfriendshipwalk.org/houston
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