SunHive Collective: A Thriving Place For Adults With Developmental Disabilities

Hannah and Laila have been best friends for their entire life, but after high school, they needed a place of acceptance for people with special needs, so their parents created SunHive Collective.

“Laila has a picture of Hannah on her bedroom wall and talks about her all the time and they have been to each other’s birthday parties,” said Laila’s mother Pati Torbati.  

But after high school, the parents began to notice the decline. “She started kind of digressing in certain areas, like in her speech a little bit, and some of the skills she had learned in high school, she was losing those,” said Hannah’s mother Melissa Collyar.

Both sets of parents were looking for options for the girls but couldn’t find the right fit. “So, she was like we need to get together and figure out something, and that’s how SunHive was born,” said Collyar.

Eventually they found the perfect place in Norman and began renovations on a house made of dirt and hay. “Really hard for us to get a builder that would touch a house that was insulated with haybales because they don’t know much about it,” said Hussein Torbati, Laila’s father and co-founder of SunHive Collective. They opened the doors two weeks ago and the friends are now back together. At SunHive the members learn daily living skills. “Things like cooking and cleaning and laundry, things that we take for granted,” said Collyar. Making them all more independent.

“She’s actually getting to a point in our house, she just gets up on her own and goes outside and sits on the patio and has an apple,” said Hussein Torbati. “But also, the thing is we partner with other nonprofits, and we volunteer,” said Collyar.

Throughout the day members enjoy art projects, watering the garden, and reading time. But the big part of the day is the dance party. It’s a chance for members to show off their dance moves and vocal skills.

“We have openings, like it’s open enrollment, please go to our website and contact us and come visit,” said Collyar.

For more information about this amazing place, or even to financially support, visit their website www.sunhivecollective.com