Wayfinders Helping People Find Their Way

By Allie Benegar

At Fresno State University, the Wayfinder program has helped numerous people with intellectual and developmental disabilities transition into adulthood. The program guides them, helping them learn  how to thrive independently in the world. Lopez-Ortiz shares of the program lasting one to two years for individuals who apply between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight years old. During the four semesters that a student is a part of the program they participate in age-appropriate activities. The inclusion that the non-degree program provides encourages the Wayfinder students to grow independently. Wayfinders have been on the Fresno State campus for about fifteen years and enrolls forty students at a time. Each cohort has twenty students that they work with. 

This program helps IDD individuals in many different ways. While in the program, students learn to live apart from their families. Students enrolled in the program live together and all become active members in their communities, some for the first time. As a Wayfinder member, they learn the skills that all college students learn their first time away from home[1]. 

The Wayfinders help all of the students get paid internships, so they can gain experience and the means to support themselves. On campus the students take classes that align with their interests and the internships that they have chosen to pursue during their time in the program. The classes that are offered to the Wayfinder students are college courses that do not require prerequisites. They learn alongside their other college students. 

After a student has spent their two years in the Wayfinders, the program assists in their transition back into the community. Now that they have been through the program they are capable of living as independently as possible in society. 

There are many success stories that have emerged from the Wayfinder program at Fresno State University. About 90% of the Wayfinder alumni go on to either work, live on their own or both. Some of the students choose to continue their education, taking more college classes. There have even been two couples that  met in the program who have later gotten married, showing the ways in which the Wayfinders positively affects the students in all aspects of their lives.

One inspiring story of a student who had attended the Wayfinder program at the university was shared by Lopez-Ortiz. An individual had entered the program that struggled with communication and anger. When frustrated the student would act out, which negatively impacted their experience and standing in the program. After some time of their behavior not improving they were on the verge of being removed from the university’s program. There was one more meeting held with the student where they had promised that they would change their attitude and behavior. It was decided that the student would have one more chance before they would be removed from the Wayfinders. The student did exactly what they had promised to do with their last chance and went on to excel, not only in the program, but at the University as well.

After finishing the Wayfinder program, this student continued their education and became involved on campus through joining the marching band. They became a coach for the Wayfinders and helped people that had been struggling the same way that they had when first joining the program. After earning a bachelor's degree from Fresno State University, the student went on to move to Colorado where they are independently working towards a master’s degree. 

The Wayfinders program helps their students gain the skills needed to live independently and become active members in their communities. This program has significantly improved the lives of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Students in the program do not only learn from those that work with the Wayfinders, but their peers that they grow alongside as well. Being included with their peers, both in and out of the program, inspires Wayfinder members to become the best version of themselves that they can be. Because of all the good that this program has done for the people that attend, Lopez-Ortiz “urge[s] the state to fund something like this on all [university] campuses” [1]. The Wayfinders program at Fresno State University changes the lives of the students that participate in the program for the better, both during their time in college and after they graduate. 

Source

[1] Lopez-Ortiz, Shail. Wayfinders. September 24, 2025.