With the help from a professional chef, 14 kids with developmental or intellectual disabilities took a crack at making sushi through a program designed to foster independence and connection.

Part of The Resource Exchange’s “Cooking Time” program, the pre-teens and teens chopped up avocados and rolled up fish and rice with seaweed at Rock N’ Roll Sushi Saturday morning. It was the first opportunity to test their sushi-making ability for many of the kids.

“It teaches them how to get in the kitchen, get comfortable around knives, around stoves. We’re just trying to teach them that adaptability,” TRE Respite Programs Manager Sarah Nolan said. “It’s life skills that everybody needs to know, but a lot of times, these families are so stressed because of the taxing nature of taking care of a special needs child that (cooking) isn’t really on their bandwidth.”

The “Cooking Time” program is among five “Respite” programs that TRE offers to parents who have kids with special needs.

Nolan said TRE hosts 11 events a month: nine in Colorado Springs and two in Pueblo. Each of the five Respite programs is designed to build life skills and social connections, all while giving parents a much needed break from their roles as caretakers.

“When (parents) come back, you can see the stress just released from their shoulders. They had a time to connect with their spouse, and they can now go back to being parents again,” Nolan said. “So, Respite was such a vital thing.”

Saturday’s event was the organization’s first time the kids stepped out of the adaptive kitchen they use at The Arc Pikes Peak Region, Nolan said.

The group was taught how to make two separate rolls, and they were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor after. Many were eager to learn a new skill, while some were just excited to eat some sushi.

“I’m able to take the concentration of knowledge and diffuse it into the younger generation. That’s really cool to do,” said Andre Henriquez, the director of operations for Rock N’ Roll Sushi.

Henriquez saw an opportunity to practice his philosophy of “unreasonable hospitality” when he saw a post Nolan made on Colorado Springs Foodies, a group on Facebook.

“The post asked if anyone had a sushi restaurant that’d be willing to have a class. I raised my hand immediately,” Henriquez said.

Part of TRE for almost 10 years, Nolan said she has the “best job in the world” because she gets to help out people in need and watch her “kids” grow in the process.

“One particular child was completely nonverbal when she first started seeing me. I remember the first time she said ‘banana’ to me. I cried. Now, she is a fully functioning high school senior out in the community,” Nolan said. “I just get these kids for a couple hours a week, but it means everything to me.”

Nolan’s altruism has trickled down to her son, Parker, an 18-year-old who regularly volunteers for TRE.

Nolan’s son told The Gazette that he loves seeing the impact he can have on the kids, many of whom he and his mother have befriended throughout the years.

“I love helping. I love the thought of helping my mom. But on top of that, I just love the thought of being able to volunteer whenever I can,” he said.

Learn more about TRE and how to get involved by visiting its website.