Guests and volunteers at a previous Club1111 RVA event
On a recent Saturday night, hip-hop music fills the room and the crowd dances with abandon. Some are dressed in their finest suits and gowns, while others playfully wear heart-shaped glasses or wave glow sticks. On the dance floor, everyone feels free to be themselves.
More than 200 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities attended the sold-out prom, held in April at Beulah Recreation Center in North Chesterfield. The event was just one of many organized by the nonprofit Step N Up’s Club1111 RVA, founded in 2020. “People come in limos and dressed to the nines,” says Angela Roisten, who founded the organization with her husband, Kevin. “We have all walks of life — people with autism, Down syndrome and with varying mobility. It’s a no-judgment zone. We just have fun.”
Club1111 RVA founders Angela and Kevin Roisten
The Roistens got involved with the disability community about seven years ago. After their daughters graduated and left home, they didn’t like the empty nest feeling. Kevin, who has worked in residential centers and group homes, suggested they open their spare rooms to people in need. The idea led them to become a host family with Serenity C&C Inc., a foster residential program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“Instead of being in an institution for the rest of their lives, these are individuals who want to live with a real family,” Angela says. “They want their own room, and they want the freedom to go to the refrigerator and cook their own meals.”
The Roistens were matched with Anthony, who is 27, and Patrick, who is 54. The men don’t have family to care for them, and neither is able to live on his own. “It’s a whole new way of nurturing and mothering,” Angela says. “They’ve come from really hard backgrounds and have had a really, really tough life. I get the job of loving them. It’s been enlightening, empowering and transformative to learn things from their perspectives.”
One night around the dinner table, the Roistens asked the guys what they liked to do. Both said they loved dancing, hanging out with friends and having a good time. “We realized there wasn’t really a place where they could go and do that,” Kevin says. Patrick and Anthony have part-time jobs and participate in JC HomeLife, a day support program, but they didn’t have any kind of nightlife.
Kevin reached out to friends in his network and learned about Step N Up Club1111 in Baltimore, an inclusive nightclub atmosphere for adults with disabilities. “We talked to the director there, went up to visit, and the guys loved it,” Kevin says, “so we decided to start our own Club1111 RVA.”
The Roistens hosted their first event in their front yard on Halloween of 2020. They set up games and trunk or treat, bought a jumbo screen with projector, and played music. “We were expecting maybe five or 10 people, but about 20 vans pulled up from various group homes and residential facilities,” Kevin recalls. “The whole neighborhood came to help.”
Club1111 RVA has continued to grow, thanks to an overwhelming response from attendees and caregivers. Kevin says their goal is to host an event every weekend.
Nationally, about 61% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live with a family member, according to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration, while 28% live in a group home, nursing home or psychiatric facility, or with a foster family like the Roistens. The remaining 11% are high functioning enough to live on their own.
“They want to do what other adults do,” Angela says. “They want to have mocktails, they want to fall in love and to have friends.”
She says the events are about more than just dancing. They improve social skills, mobility and physical fitness, all while providing a much-needed break for caregivers.
Anthony says his favorite events so far have been an Easter dance, a karaoke night and prom. While he enjoys listening to music, especially gospel, he also loves helping out. “If I see somebody sitting down, I get them up and dance with them so they feel more comfortable,” he says. “I get along with everybody.”
The Roistens rely on sponsorships from Henrico County, Chesterfield County and corporations, as well as help from neighbors, friends and family. Kevin’s boss at the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office, Major Eric Jones, is a frequent DJ. Their parents and their daughters are also involved.
Angela says she and Kevin have gained not only two sons but a whole new family. “When we have these dances, a lot of them are calling me Mom,” she says. “I love them. They are my babies, even if some of them are older than me. They just want to be loved, heard and seen.”
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