We recently connected with Patty Myers and have shared our conversation below.

Patty, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I first had an idea. I saw a need in our community.
Building Pathways Foundation (BP) – I saw a need for more life, social, and job skills training for our teens and adults with disabilities. Some were in school not doing much. Some were out of school not doing much. They weren’t working or living on their own.

Pathways For Life Academy (PFLA)- I saw a need for a Middle/High School to help train these individuals with disabilities with life, social, executive functioning, and job skills. They were missing these skills early on. The schools in general were either focusing fully on academics or were babysitting and not working as much on functioning living skills.

BP- The name hopefully speaks for itself. Building Pathways. We want to help train and build pathways towards independence. We want to help them so much that they don’t need our help anymore. I created the logo of someone walking on a path toward independence. It looks a little bit like my son (wasn’t on purpose). He is 21 now and lives with autism. He was my inspiration to help him but also help others. They can do these things they just need some help to get there.

PFLA- The name hopefully as well speaks for itself – Pathways For Life Academy. We want to build Pathways for them to reach independence. I saw that many schools are not working on functional living skills or teaching life and job skills. I wanted to help students who were in Middle and High School learn budgeting, know how to use a debit card, could read a recipe. I want them to graduate with more skills than acquiring a diploma.

Patty, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Patty Myers. I am the author of Autism Is A Blessing. I am a Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst. I am the President and CEO of 2 Non Profits here in Central Florida – Building Pathways Foundation and Pathways For Life Academy.

I first graduated with my Bachelor’s in Psychology from King University in Bristol, Tennessee.
I was married just a month later after graduation.
About 11 years later we had a son who was later diagnosed with Autism.
My mission was to help him.
I went back to school and learned about ABA Applied Behavior Analysis to help my son.
In finishing the coursework I realized I wanted to help more people instead of just my son.

After this I became a Principal for a private school in Orlando for students with special needs. This opened up more my passion for serving in this area.

After seeing areas where we could do better as a community, especially in the Christian community I started my own non profit (Building Pathways Foundation) to help teens and adults learn life, social, and job skills. I see so many in school or out of school not doing functional skills training. I know they can do more. We do all our trainings in a real home to work on naturalistic teaching. We provide Social Skill classes, Summer Camps, and a Day Program. We also provide supportive guys and girls housing.

About 2 years later I opened a school with 2 others to fill the need in our community. We needed more functional living skills practice within a school environment. It is a Middle and High School.

I am most proud of having these 2 places for students to come and LEARN… functional learning that is applicable to their lives. We have also added girls and guys housing to help them with independent living skills like budgeting, job placement, and transportation support.

I want people to know that our programs are always participant/student centered. They are safe and loving environments that encourage the individuals to work towards doing things on their own and being proud of that. We work on parent training as well. So many individuals like my own son just need a little guidance and help to get to the next step, take another step, and another step.

This last year has been particularly hard. My husband Tony who was a big part of both programs passed away 9/9/21. It has been a very hard year for everyone. We are adjusting and trying to keep it all going with this tremendous loss.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My husband passed away about a year ago 9/9/21. It rocked us all.
He was a huge part of the programs and culture. He was funny, fun, and nurturing.

It is not the same without him.
We had to cancel our Tuesday social skills class for BP.
We had to pause several things to make it through.
Financially it was a hard year to get through and make it.
We did.
With God’s help and grace.
I am still here, still the President without my husband.
I am still offering most services.
It is hard but we are doing it with the help of our amazing Board of Directors.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I scraped to get the rent needed to get into our first house. My husband and I sacrificed for months.
We used some of our own home furniture to furnish the house to do our classes in.
My husband got donations from others, donated furniture too.
I didn’t pay myself for months.
I worked hard at getting the word out about what we provided.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.building-pathways.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingpathways/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuildingPathwaysOrlando/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-pathways-foundation-inc/?viewAsMember=true