We all know people we admire because of what they have done to help others. One of the people I truly admire is Carol Hart, who founded Life Styles Inc. in 1976. She woke up one day with a dream to start a program to serve the needs of those challenged by mental and physical disabilities. For 37 years, Life Styles has helped and lifted up people in Fayetteville and throughout Northwest Arkansas who were born with a disability. Through the years, more than 800 people have been given the chance to live as full a life as possible.
Carol Hart created a program rooted in the belief that everyone ought to have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. Her goal was to build a program that would give those served a chance for some degree of independence, an opportunity to work and learn a job, a fair shot at educational advancement, a chance to express themselves through art and an opportunity to find happiness in life. Currently, more than 100 individuals with disabilities participate daily in Life Styles’ many programs.
I’m on the board at Life Styles and have been connected to the program since 1981. As others will tell you, once you are a part of this program and see all the good it does for the individuals and their families who are served, it is almost impossible to walk away. When you see how it changes lives and what it means to a mother or father of a child with disabilities or what it means to that person’s brother or sister, your commitment to the program is indelibly etched in your heart. At Life Styles, we believe community life is for everyone, all people have value, and when people with disabilities are given the opportunity and support to participate and contribute to the community, all of our lives are enriched.
The program at Life Styles has been recognized for years as one of the best of its kind in the country. The program gets excellent results. It looks for creative ways to employ those with disabilities, because having a job contributes to one’s self-esteem and confidence. That spreads to all aspects of the individual’s life. It turns many with disabilities into a taxpayer and an involved citizen. It brings meaning and fulfillment to those employers who are willing to give a job to a person with disability and it brings perspective and genuine warmth to all those who work with that person.
Life Styles reached a recent goal with establishment of a program to train high school students with a disability in a host business during intensive internship rotations. The idea is to teach the students complex skills that will make them a viable candidate for a job in the host business or elsewhere in the community. Another innovative program provides a collegiate experience on the campus of the University of Arkansas for college-aged students with intellectual disabilities who would otherwise not have this opportunity.
Carol Hart is a smart and talented woman and could have chosen a different career path that would have earned her a lot more money. But she chose mission over money. There are different ways to gauge the success of one’s career, but to me the best way to measure it is how a person has made life better for others. By that standard, Carol has been dead solid perfect. What she built at Life Styles, with the help of many others, has given hope to countless people. Hope is a powerful thing.
Carol Hart retired not long ago but the work goes on at Life Styles, and it always will, because Carol built a program much bigger than herself. The work of her life is being carried on by others. Because of Carol’s vision and leadership, Life Styles will be here in our community to help those served be the best they can be.
I believe the foundation of Carol Hart’s exceptional career is that she has always known what she believed in and she has lived by it. She has always known what she cared about and has nourished it. She made her dream come true, and that’s made a huge difference for a lot of people.
WOODY BASSETT IS A LIFELONG FAYETTEVILLE RESIDENT AND A LOCAL ATTORNEY.