While Center of Family Love administrators are beyond grateful for the record-setting $2 million-plus in donations collected at this year’s gala, they are more excited about what the money can help them achieve.

“Yes, we can put on a great party, but ultimately it’s not about the party, it’s about the people we serve and how we can serve them better,” Nellie Sanders, CFL’s senior vice president for philanthropy, said.

Always on the cutting edge of going beyond meeting the basic needs of the intellectually-disabled adults it serves, the Okarche-based facility is looking to expand those boundaries beyond anything previously considered.

“With proper instruction and devlopment based on the way they learn, our clients can do so much more than menial jobs,” Sanders said. “They can step into leadership roles and be role models for generations who follow.

“That’s why we’ve adopted the term ‘NextGen Heroes,’” she said.

That dream begins with development of an 80-acre plot of land in northwest Oklahoma City, which was donated to the center several years ago, CEO Debbie Espinosa said.

“We’re planning to construct a 69,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art building as a catalyst for individually-customized day programs including career development and leadership training,” Espinosa said.

“In addition to our 130 current residents, the facility will be able to serve 600 individuals with developmental disabilities in the Oklahoma City area, while they continue to live at home with their families,” she added.

The building also will include a Family Life Resource Center to offer education, support and medical referrals to parents of children with intellectual and learning disabilities, even from the point of in utero diagnosis.

“Families who are expecting babies with different abilities often don’t know where to go or where to begin,” Espinosa said.

“We will connect families from the very beginning with the best doctors and help them learn now to accommodate their child in the home and teach them to live independently,” Sanders said.

“We’ll be able to offer that kind of information and support for the entire lifespan of the child that parents are raising at home, through adulthood and into geriatrics,” Espinosa said.

Although designs are not finalized, the massive two-story structure will include environmental and technological features designed to meet the needs of the people it serves.

“We want to create a world made for them to thrive and excel,” Sanders said.

In addition to the building itself, CFL plans to bring in select partners from the business world who will construct other buildings and storefronts on the property where training can be put to work and the facility can become self-sustaining.

That’s already a proven concept at CFL, where the “Farm to Fork” program has residents planting, harvesting, marketing and selling produce to high-end Oklahoma City restaurants, and Kristy Lyn’s Floral and Gifts is operated by residents who serve customers and design floral arrangements that are sold and delivered all over the state.

New opportunities already being explored include vet tech training to assist with veterinary surgeries and pet grooming and boarding and animal therapy and a day care center.

“We’ll be selective but we don’t want to limit it,” Sanders said. “We want to help those we serve discover and develop their own gifts.”

The project also has attracted the interest of a documentary filmmaker who will be tracking the progress.

“This isn’t a local initiative; this is going to change the world,” Sanders said. “They are the most beautiful and impressive of all God’s people and it’s an honor to serve them.

“They can teach the rest of us how to be better people. We have a lot to learn from them,” she added.