Those who know Palermo have called him "an angel" and "a man with a heart of gold." Palermo is the founder and national director of the Young Life Capernaum Project, a program dedicated to serving and building relationships with those who have physical and developmental disabilities.

"We say we work with and have friendships with normal kids who live with abnormal circumstances," says Shelley Smith, Capernaum's area director for Santa Clara Valley. This branch of the project includes participants who live in Cupertino.

The project is a nondenominational, Christian-based organization offering social outlets to build friendships through weekly club meetings and activities. The nonprofit program gives participants opportunities to challenge their physical limits. It helps promote self-esteem, and builds individual skills, such as cooking meals or developing job interview capabilities.

Since its 1986 origin at the former Blackford High School, the project has spread to 59 cities in four countries. It is now based in the Rose Garden neighborhood of San Jose. The project takes its name from a scripture story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man in Capernaum, an ancient civilization on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Desirree Madison-Biggs, a past project volunteer, has seen the "flow of love" from the Capernaum youth, which she says radically changes both the participants and the lives of those around them.

"I've been inspired by that," she says.

Madison-Biggs also says most people tend to feel sorry for those with disabilities, but "after you've been involved with Capernaum, you don't feel sorry for them any more. You see them for who they are: The issues they face, and challenges, and the means they have to deal with those issues."

Palermo didn't grow up with relatives or friends who had disabilities. He didn't have a background in helping teens in wheelchairs. In fact, he knew nothing about it. Today, Palermo could be considered an expert in his field.

He started out as leader with Young Life, an international Christian group committed to affecting the lives of youth and introducing them to Jesus. Young Life staff members go onto school campuses and organize clubs. Capernaum is an offshoot of the Young Life organization.

"On human terms, it was a complete accident," Palermo says. "The accident part was when I was at Blackford High School, and I ran into these kids."

In 1986, Palermo, who was 30, was one of three leaders assigned to Blackford. He was visiting the high school one day when about 25 teens came rolling up to him in their electric wheelchairs.

Palermo sat in the cafeteria and visited with them. At first he remembers drawing back.

"I was really, really uncomfortable," Palermo says.

As he kept returning, Palermo got to know the students and began to see beyond their disabilities.

"I was right there in something that was going to happen," Palermo says.

John Bridgeman, a 1989 Blackford graduate, remembers those early sessions as Palermo realized Bridgeman was just like any other teen.

"I remember Nick saying all the time, 'You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,' " Bridgeman says.

Today, Bridgeman, a past Capernaum leader, is a Campbell community service officer who works in parking enforcement for the police department. He has cerebral palsy, and uses his wheelchair for work, but can walk with crutches.

During the three years Palermo spent going into the high school cafeteria, he would ask the teens what they did over the weekend. Their typical response was, "Nothing," or "I just watched television."

"One day it just clicked, and I asked them, 'Why do you always say nothing?' " Palermo says. "'What about homecoming, the dance?'" Everything was 'Nothing,' and 'No.' "

That's when Palermo came up with the idea to start a Young Life club for teens with disabilities. The Capernaum Project was born.

Palermo convinced Ruben Alvarez, a 1986 Blackford High graduate, to work for him and launch the program.

"We made a pact," Alvarez says. "I would teach him, and he would teach me. He would teach me his Young Life work, and I would teach him about the world of disabilities, and out of that came this program."

Alvarez is the area director of Capernaum's West Valley office. The West Valley territory includes Sunnyvale. Currently, the West Valley office is a room in Alvarez's home, though he would much prefer commercial office space to accommodate the growing program's needs.

Alvarez, 40, is the only Capernaum area director in the country who leads from his wheelchair.

"It makes it hard to quit when you carry that title," Alvarez says, joking.

For Alvarez's childhood friend, Sandra Donaldson, of Sunnyvale, it's no surprise to hear of his leadership abilities.

"Ruben never seemed like he was self-conscious. He has never let his disabilities slow him down," she says.

Alvarez, who has cerebral palsy, is married to Renee, an able-bodied woman. They met through Capernaum and have three daughters.

Donaldson, a past Capernaum volunteer, works for the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety as a 911 dispatch supervisor. While she no longer has time to commit to Capernaum because of her demanding work schedule, rotating days off and long shifts, she misses the interaction with the kids.

"I miss getting to see Ruben and Renee on a weekly basis. I miss hearing the kids laugh and watching them flourish," she says.

"We would meet for clubs on a weekly basis," Donaldson says. "We would get together and sing songs with the kids. It was a time for kids to just hang out. It was obviously a Christian-based organization, but it wasn't something we shoved down their throats. It gave them a chance to socialize."

John Pappas, of Cupertino, has been a Capernaum participant for almost 20 years. He loves seeing his friends at the meetings.

"When you have a disabled child, his friends aren't in the neighborhood," says John's mom, Linda.

Pappas says her son, who is, 35, enjoys the social aspect of the program, since he's very vocal. Even though he's in a wheelchair and has cerebral palsy, John Pappas says he voted in the last election, and isn't happy with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the moment. The meetings allow him to share information with his peers. Pappas also went on his first camping trip in the Sierra because of Capernaum.

"I did the ropes course," he recalls, proudly.

Linda Pappas often comes to club meetings with her son. She loves the way the leaders and volunteers interact with the club participants, as opposed to those people she meets outside of Capernaum.

"In the grocery store, parents have pulled their kids away from John because they fear they are going to catch something," Pappas says.

Participants affirm that the project has given them a sense of purpose in life. Hasmukh Motiram says he and his wife have seen the social improvements in their son Anil, 21, because of Capernaum. Anil, who had a stroke and suffers from motor delays, attends Capernaum's weekly meetings on Thursday nights. Motiram says his son feels comfortable and welcomed at the meetings.

"The leaders here take care of the kids," Motiram says. "I'm a Hindu. I'm not Christian, but they accept me."

Madison-Biggs has served on Capernaum's committee--which functions like a board of directors--and has been a leader, van driver and volunteer for the organization. She's a senior manager at Symantec Corp.

"One of the things that struck me and continues to strike me is the complete isolation of kids with disabilities who don't fit the mold of the 'normal kid,' " she says.

Madison-Biggs says the Capernaum participants are provided with a safe environment where they believe they are valued and treasured.

"I used to play the guitar at the clubs on a weekly basis," she says. "I work at a high-tech firm, but when I played the guitar for those kids, I was a rock star. There is such a wonderful spirit with the kids."

For the volunteers and leaders, they say it reminds them not to take the simple things in life, such as going to the movies, for granted

For 21-year-old Florencio Bernal, of Saratoga, going to the movies was the adventure of a lifetime. Bernal usually needs an ambulance with an entourage of medical help for transportation. It was quite a change for him and his friends to enjoy an afternoon. They went to see Kingdom of Heaven because Bernal says he is really into the Crusades.

He related this life-changing experience from his bed at the Sub-Acute Saratoga Hospital. He communicates through a pump and sip joystick in his mouth that's connected to his computer. The joystick works like a mouse on the screen. The computer speaks the words Bernal wants to express, since he can't say them himself.

Bernal, who is in 12th-grade academically, lives at the hospital because of medical conditions caused by muscular dystrophy, which confines him to a hospital bed or wheelchair.

Alvarez and his Capernaum crew made the trip to the movies possible.

"I enjoy the friendship and the camaraderie [the Capernaum Project offers]," says Bernal, through his computer. "It allows me to get out of the hospital."

It was the first time in three years, since arriving at the hospital, that he had left the facility.

"Prior to Young Life and offering these activities, Flo didn't want to get out of bed," says Kathleen Bays, a liaison between the Saratoga care facility and Santa Clara County Office of Education. "There wasn't much for him. This makes a huge difference."

These are young people who just want to hang out, love rocking to pop music in a strobe-lit room or enjoy the latest film on a big screen television. Alvarez visits the Saratoga care facility on Fridays, bringing Capernaum club meetings to the residents who can't leave the hospital because of their medical needs. Alvarez's Christmas present to them this year was caroling with the help of his staff and a gift basket of age-appropriate DVDs.

Palermo says youth with disabilities have fewer opportunities, less access to transportation, and tend to be more invisible in this society. Some Capernaum participants come from low-income homes and, therefore, have fewer resources.

On Wednesdays, volunteer drivers in vans pick students up after school from Del Mar and Branham high schools. The two high schools offer special education programs for students who live throughout Santa Clara County.

The vans are outfitted with hydraulic lifts for those in wheelchairs. After club meetings, participants are driven home to communities as far away as Gilroy, Milpitas and Mountain View.

Del Mar 12th-grader Ishara White is in a wheelchair, but attends mainstream, regular classes at her school. However, she has found socializing there difficult, and at times, depressing. She's often ignored.

"At school, since we're disabled, people don't acknowledge us, but when we're here [at Capernaum meetings], it's like we're family. We fit in. Basically, we're loved," White says.

Capernaum has created Wyldlife clubs for middle school students, clubs for high school students, and Club Beyond--a transitional program for adults who were once club "kids"--to help address those needs.

When disabled high school students turn 21 in California, they can no longer attend public high schools, which cuts them off from social outlets. Many are not capable of going on to college.

"They are young adults," Palermo says. "But they don't have the opportunities traditional kids have. They are starving for a social atmosphere with a spiritual component."

While there are other programs that are similar to Capernaum, they are usually county, state or federally funded. There have never been club dues or fees to participate in Capernaum. But there are overhead costs. The majority of Capernaum's revenues come from individual donations and fundraising events.

It's also why the program is looking for contributions to add some extra touches to its expanding facilities and to enhance the program's activities.

For more information or to make a donation to the Young Life Capernaum Project, contact Santa Clara Valley Area Director Shelley Smith at 408.286.3207, or contact West Valley Area Director Ruben Alvarez at 408.358.4346.