Holiday Visitors Find Faith, Hope and Charity at Developmental Center

This time of year, Father Philip Smith sees the meaning of Christmas everywhere at Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa.

He sees it in the worshiper who dressed up for a holiday service Sunday in a tweed coat and tie to go with the hockey helmet he must wear to avoid head injuries during seizures. And in the loud grunts, groans and shrieks of an older woman in a wheelchair, her only way of singing in a body gone haywire. And in the smiling man who excitedly sat in front and recited the entire service -- a few seconds before the priest did.

“This is my favorite place to spend Christmas,” said Smith, a Roman Catholic priest of the Norbertine order based at St. John the Baptist parish in Costa Mesa, who conducted services Sunday for about 200 Fairview residents and family members. “God came to Earth as a small, helpless child who needed assistance in so many ways. Just like the people here. That’s the Christmas message.”

A Catholic Mass today followed by the opening of donated presents will mark the end of a weeks-long series of holiday events at the state-run facility, home to 770 people with disabilities.

They include a dance, an appearance by Santa, a Hanukkah service, Protestant and Catholic Christmas services, and family visits.

It’s impossible to measure the effect these traditions have on the Fairview residents, 80% of whom have severe or profound intellectual impairment with difficulty communicating. Retardation isn’t the residents’ only challenge. Many are blind, deaf or suffer from medical conditions that force them to stay in bed or use a wheelchair. The average age is 43.

But many of those who are able to express their gratitude do so with wide grins, the clapping of hands and simple, childlike proclamations. At Sunday’s service, an enthusiastic man who carried a purple banner and led the small procession around the Fairview auditorium nearly broke into a trot in the aisles, leaving the priest far behind.

“It’s wonderful!” shouted Katie Ross, a 34-year-old resident who received her first Communion on Sunday. Wearing a white pantsuit and veil, she hugged her new Bible and posed for photos with family, friends and a few of Fairview’s 2,000 workers.

A tear ran down the cheek of her father, Nick Ross, as he watched Katie’s joy.

Those like Nick Ross who spend time with Fairview patients, including scores of volunteers, said they get a chance to see God up close. This is especially true during the Christmas season because Christians believe Jesus made an improbable entrance into human history as a helpless infant, not unlike the severely mentally disabled, and he later promised, according to the Scriptures, to remain close to those in need.

Alicia Schultz, 52, believes Jesus keeps a special watch over her daughter, Juanita. The 35-year-old Fairview resident is mentally disabled, confined to a wheelchair, is going blind and has an inoperable brain tumor.

“To tell you the truth, I have my sad moments,” Alicia Schultz said, adding that those feelings happen away from Fairview. The unconditional love given by her daughter and other residents of Fairview instantly cheer her. “When I complain about anything in life, I just have to be with them. It brings me back a sense of normalcy.”

Mary Brosseau, the center’s full-time Catholic chaplain, said the support from family, friends and volunteers makes Christmas one of the most upbeat days at Fairview.

“There’s a spirit here that this is a celebration of the birth of Jesus,” she said. “They can’t intellectualize God, so it’s purely about the relationship.”