Community Access Programs
Wesley Glen’s community programs begin with a simple idea: the skills, interests, and relationships neighbors develop in the programs should have a place in everyday community life.
Neighbors help shape what they do. Staff listen to their interests and goals, offer support where it is needed, and help turn their ideas into opportunities to learn, serve, work, and connect with others. Some of that happens within the program, much of it happens beyond.
A place to connect.
Neighbors have opportunities to explore interests, practice life skills, build friendships, develop employment readiness, have lunch, and prepare for accomplishing their personal goals both at home and in the community.
In the community.
The activities matter, but so does what grows from them: confidence to make a choice, speak up, try something new, or take the next step toward a personal goal.
Serving in the community.
Neighbors take those interests and skills into the places where they live. They volunteer with local nonprofits, spend time with friends, advocate for themselves and others, explore work, and build relationships with community partners.
In both programs, neighbors lead opportunities to respond to local needs with other organizations. Neighbors serve alongside partners such as Macon Outreach, Daybreak, and the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank in Macon and Feed the Valley and PAWS in Columbus. Staff help make connections and remove barriers, while neighbors bring their own ideas, time, and talents to serving their communities.
Community Access Programs in Macon and Columbus
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Amy studied Early Childhood Development at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and brings more than 20 years of teaching experience to her role. She finds joy and purpose in serving our neighbors, building relationships with them, and helping them discover new ways to learn and connect.
Amy Reagan
Director of Community Program - Macon
Amy Reagan joined Wesley Glen in 2004 as Activities Coordinator and became Director of Day Services in 2012. She leads the Macon Community Access Program, where she guides staff, develops programming, and works to ensure each neighbor’s needs and interests shape their day.
Nikki works with neighbors, families, staff, and local partners to build a program shaped by neighbors’ interests and goals. Her leadership helps connect opportunities inside the program with relationships, service, and engagement throughout the Columbus community.
Nicole “Nikki” Hilmes
MS, CCC-SLP, BCBA
Director of Community Program - Columbus
Nikki leads Wesley Glen’s Community Access Program in Columbus. She is a speech-language pathologist and board-certified behavior analyst, bringing clinical expertise and the perspective of a parent of an adult son with autism.