A Sensory Friendly Family Fest will be hosted by the in Toto Community Resource Center on June 17 at Discovery Christian Church.

Lucinda Wiebe, a board member with in Toto, said the event benefits both the center and the community at large.

“We wanted to let the community know we’re here, and one of the ways we can do that is by inviting them to come and enjoy activities together — and also learn a little bit about us at the same time,” she said.

Wiebe said the Zelienople-based in Toto is currently celebrating its 15th year in the greater Pittsburgh community as a resource center for parents and children.

“It began particularly to serve people on the autism spectrum, with social groups and resources for families for helping them navigate having a family member with special needs,” she said. “Over the years, it grew to what it is now — we have several groups going on every week for various populations.”

Those groups include a virtual cooking class for teens, a Minecraft group designed to teach independent living skills, and social groups for older teens, young adults and children.

“Besides the autism program, we have the mothers support group,” Wiebe said. “It’s called Empowering Moms, and they come in, they bring their babies and they talk about what they’re going through together and help each other.”

She said the center also recently opened an infertility support group.

Ideally, the Sensory Friendly Family Fest will help raise awareness in the surrounding community about these resources.

“We call it the ‘Sensory Friendly’ Family Fest because that’s a buzzword for people with autism,” Wiebe said. “There will not be overly stimulating things that might cause a person with sensory issues to be uncomfortable being there.”

The event also will feature food trucks, including Fat Cat Mac Attack, Coop Chicken and Waffles, Sweet Pea’s Sweet Treats and Curbside Cucina. Six local authors also will read their books to children as part of a story time.

“Discovery church has a mini golf, so we’ll be doing that,” Wiebe said. “There’s a memorial — you can sort of sponsor a hole at the mini golf in memory of someone.”

Fundraising via a Golfing for Memories sponsorship is just another way the event helps support the center.

A number of local vendors also will be on-site, and Wiebe said the event is actively seeking sponsors. “We’d also like you to go on and get tickets, but they don’t cost anything,” Wiebe said. “We just need a general idea of how many people are planning to be there — last year we had 300 people.”

Wiebe said she hopes the event inspires the community to take advantage of the center’s resources.

“I hope they take away the sense that there is a community for them to get involved with and to be supported by,” Wiebe said. “Especially people who have family members with special needs need to know their ways to be supported, and we would like to help them find the resources that they need to walk this journey.”