DeSales University assistant professor Elisabeth Felten says that teaching for the PLACE program feels like winning the Super Bowl on Christmas morning.

Felten singlehandedly created and launched the Post-Secondary Lifelong Adapted Continuing Education Program. It’s a unique offering designed for adult learners who are denied a traditional college education due to their disabilities.  

What started as a pilot program in the fall of 2022 is currently in its second semester. Though the program is not sponsored by DeSales, Felten reserves space to hold classes on Tuesdays.

“I don’t think anybody really understands how much this program means to us,” says Terilyn Calandro, student Alyse Calandro’s mother. 

“It really does mean everything. I’ve given my daughter, with Libby’s help and DeSales’ help, a college experience.” 

Alyse was born with Down syndrome and Hirschsprung’s disease, an intestinal disorder. She loves to learn, especially when it comes to dance, music, and art. But students with special needs age out of the school system at 21. After that, there is typically nowhere for them to go. 

For the past eight years, Alyse has been practicing reading, writing, and math at home each day, aside from weekends and holidays. Calandro says they never stopped because they never gave up hope that one day, they would find a program that catered to Alyse’s needs. 

That’s why she’s willing to drive nearly three hours roundtrip from their home in Yardley, Bucks County, to DeSales’ campus, so that Alyse can attend Felten’s class each week.

The PLACE Program isn’t just a professional undertaking for Felten; it’s also extremely personal. Her daughter, Isabella, is one of the students. It was after she ran into one of her daughter’s friends that Felten knew she needed to act. 

Felten talked to more and more parents and realized just how great the need really is in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. She began her research and modeled the PLACE Program after a similar concept in Staten Island, New York. 

“It’s unlikely these students will go onto college, they may not be a candidate for gainful employment, and they may not qualify for government assistance,” she says. “They want that education, but they essentially fall through the cracks.”

The PLACE Program is a non-degree program, but Felten still wanted it to have the look and feel of a real college experience. She adapted the curriculu to the students’ needs. She even sent each applicant, including her daughter, an acceptance letter in the mail.   

Felten bills the program as a place for those who don’t fit anywhere else. It’s lifelong and all students are welcome, as long as they’re 18 or older. And, the gains she’s already seeing, including an increase in independence among students, proves that the program is working. 

“I’m speechless and tearing up most of my day,” Felten says. “It just fills my soul.”  

Read more about the PLACE Program on desales.edu.