Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Shannon Overfelt (right) lifts weights last week as Christy Ploch works with Mary Hunt and Brandon Handy at Didlake in Rocky Mount. The company says a decline in the number of participants has made it difficult for the center to cover operating expenses.

Shannon Overfelt works with exercise instructor Christy Ploch at Didlake in Rocky Mount last week. Though the day center for mentally disabled adults is facing financial problems, a new nonprofit called Rising Opportunities may take over the center's services.

Christy Ploch works with Brandon Handy during an exercise program at Didlake.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Music by Madonna and Katy Perry pumped from a stereo Tuesday in the back room of Didlake on Franklin Street.

From his wheelchair, Brandon Handy pumped his arms as best he could and Mary Hunt clapped and danced at the encouragement of the instructor. Others used hula hoops and tossed a ball, exercises to get them moving.

The exercise program is a new one for Didlake, the day center for mentally disabled adults, at a time when it's in danger of closing. That would leave few alternatives for such disabled adults in Franklin County.

And the relatively small group that needs Didlake in the county has found someone to fight for them.

Didlake opened its community inclusion center in 2005 at the pressing of Tillie and Jerry Thompson. They had been taking their daughter Patty, who suffered from cerebral palsy, to a Roanoke Didlake location for social activities and wanted similar services closer to home.

When the Northern Virginia-based company opened the Rocky Mount facility, it served 17 clients. But a decline in number of participants made it difficult to cover operating expenses, said Betty Dean, vice president of corporate communications for Didlake. This year, only 11 attend the center regularly, making it "financially unfeasible to continue to operate at this location," she said.

Other Didlake locations across the state will remain open, including the center in Roanoke.

If the center were to close, Goodwill would offer the only other option in the county, leaving families or caregivers to transport participants elsewhere.

Seeing the potential gap in services when Didlake's lease is up Dec. 31, Diane Lovell decided to do something about it. She has created the nonprofit Rising Opportunities to take over the Didlake center's services.

Lovell estimates it would take 13 clients to cover operating expenses. She said she has verbal commitments from that many families willing to participate.

While new ideas for the center include a reading room and work opportunities for participants, none of it can begin until Rising Opportunities raises funds.

The group is seeking $60,000 -- estimated operating expenses for three months -- to get the program off the ground, Lovell said.

Representatives from the nonprofit are scheduled to approach the Franklin County Board of Supervisors and Rocky Mount Town Council this week to ask for financial help.

"We're going to local government first," Lovell said. "If that doesn't work, we'll go knock on doors. We will get this done somehow."

Piedmont Community Services, where Lovell serves as chairwoman of the board of directors, has agreed to loan the nonprofit the needed startup funds if it can find someone to act as a co-signer and repay the money in case Rising Opportunities can't.

Lovell approached supervisors for help in October, but they asked for more information.

Paperwork for state licensing has been completed, but not submitted, Lovell said. The group cannot submit the application until they have the money.

Certified Didlake staff will continue to work at the center until Rising Opportunities obtains the needed license. It's an offer that doesn't have an expiration date, Dean said.

Other than implementing new programs, Lovell and Tillie Thompson said the goal of the center will be to integrate its participants with the community.

"We don't want an isolated, segregated community," said Lovell, whose son Robert, 24, has mental disabilities but works at a local hotel and enjoys trips to the library. "People with different abilities still have a gift to offer."

From 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. during the week, Didlake clients socialize and participate in different programs including crafts, lessons in daily living skills and field trips.

"We want to look at folks' needs and create programs from that," Lovell said.

Too often, those suffering from a disability have to make do with the limited services available, Tillie Thompson said.

"We want to let them do what they want to do, not only what is available," she said.

The center's clients are oblivious to the struggles going on behind the scenes to ensure that they are able to actively participate in the community. All they knew Wednesday was they wanted to dance with exercise instructor Christy Ploch.

Watching the center's clients reminds Tillie Thompson of Patty, who died of her condition in 2005, months after the center opened.

"She enriched peoples lives," she said. "She was out in the public, not in a closet."