Ministry focuses on inclusion of those with special needs

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The SPICE program works to raise awareness, money for people with special needs in Catholic parishes and schools. Founded 20 years ago by Eastmoor resident Bob Ryan and his wife Mary Ginn Ryan, the program has grown to several parishes within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

Bob Ryan sees a ministry he created with his wife 20 years ago as "very Catholic."

That's because it's focused on people with special needs, like his daughter, 26-year-old Megan Ryan, and he believes helping people like her follows Jesus' teachings.

"It's very inclusive, it's very universal, it's very accepting," he said of SPICE, which stands for Special People in Catholic Education. "It's pretty much based on Christ's teachings. The parables, they weren't about the all-stars and the athletes, they were about the lame and the sick."

SPICE, created as a parish program at St. Catharine's on the East Side 20 years ago, raises awareness and money for people with special needs in the more than a dozen parishes in the Columbus Diocese it now serves, Ryan said. Money raised for the program is used to help individual families or help parishes buy adaptive equipment or offer specialized resources. He estimates the program has raised more than $1.5 million at St. Catharine's alone.

Ryan and his wife, Mary Ginn Ryan, founded the program in 1999, shortly after they enrolled Megan, who has Down syndrome, in kindergarten at St. Catharine School.

Enrolling a childlike Megan with special needs in a traditional public or private elementary school was unheard of at that time, he said.

But she was accepted by the staff and students, and now it's no big deal thanks to the efforts of SPICE.

"We feel we've raised awareness," Ryan said. "People say the best thing about SPICE is it's...