One of Miles’ paintings hangs in the offices of Public Media Network in Kalamazoo. Several others have already sold. Miles lives in a supportive home operated by Residential Opportunities, Inc. (ROI), and painting has become a meaningful way for him to express himself and share his talents. For his mother, Carol Scharfenberg, his artwork represents the possibilities that open when someone receives the encouragement and support to pursue what they love.
That is the life Carol wants for Miles — a life filled with interests, experiences and possibilities. A life in which the support he needs helps him participate in the things that make life fulfilling.
Now, as Carol faces stage-4 cancer, she is making plans to help ensure those opportunities continue. Through a planned gift to Kalamazoo Community Foundation (KZCF), she hopes to extend the care and encouragement she has given Miles to residents throughout ROI’s homes. It is a legacy shaped by a mother’s love and informed by a lifetime of professional knowledge.
Carol is a licensed occupational therapist, and she brings that experience to her relationship with Miles. Alongside the services ROI provides, Carol has helped enrich her son’s life through excursions, creative activities and continuous support for his interest in painting.
Her training helps her recognize possibilities and find ways to make them accessible. Her relationship with Miles helps her understand what captures his attention and gives him an opportunity to shine. Together, those perspectives have guided her efforts to help him enjoy a full life within his community.
Painting is one expression of that commitment. By encouraging Miles’ interest, Carol has helped create experiences for others to encounter his work and appreciate him as an artist. His paintings offer something of his own to the world.
For Carol, the goal is simple and profoundly human. She wants Miles to have the same opportunities others enjoy: to discover his interests, develop his abilities, venture into the community and experience the satisfaction of doing something meaningful.
Facing her own mortality has brought the future of those experiences into sharper focus. Carol wants the thoughtful, individualized support she has provided to continue after she is gone and she sees an opportunity to help more people experience those benefits.
That vision led her to KZCF.
Through the Carol and Miles Parker-Scharfenberg OT Position Fund, Carol has outlined a lasting purpose for her giving: helping ROI provide meaningful, sustained life enrichment activities in the community through the work of a fully-credentialed occupational therapist.
Her intention is to help support a paid position that brings professional expertise to planning activities and helping residents participate. The fund can also support assistants working with the occupational therapist, further extending the reach of that work.
At the heart of the plan is attention to each person — their interests, their abilities and the supports needed to help them take part. Carol hopes that the chances she has helped make possible for Miles can become available to every resident of an ROI home.
Carol describes a possibility that reaches well beyond any single outing or activity. Consistent, purposeful support can make room for interests to grow over time. An introduction to painting can become an ongoing creative practice. An excursion can open the door to another set of experiences. Each opportunity can become part of a richer everyday life.
A woman of modest means, Carol is making this commitment with the resources she has available to her. Through an endowment at KZCF, her gift is intended to provide ongoing support across generations. Others may also contribute to the fund, helping carry her vision forward.
Her story offers an encouraging example for anyone wondering whether their own planned gift could make a difference. A meaningful legacy can begin with something close to home: a person you love, a need you understand and a hope for what might be possible.
For Carol, all three come together in Miles.
She has seen what can happen when his interests receive encouragement and his talents have room to grow. Now she is planning for that encouragement to endure, both for Miles and for countless others whose lives can be enriched by the same thoughtful support.
Her legacy will live in opportunities: a new experience, a growing interest, a work of art shared with the community, and in the enduring conviction that every person deserves a full and meaningful life.
