This holiday season marks the close of my first year at The Center. As I reflect on all that has happened in just one short year, I am grateful to the friends, volunteers, and generous supporters who continue to empower the important strides we are making toward a better future for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).
At The Center, we work each day toward our mission of promoting the pursuit of choice, growth, and personal independence for adults with I/DD. One of our biggest areas of focus this year—helping our clients to enter the workforce—truly represents our mission. Established just one year ago, The Center’s Employment Services Program now serves approximately 50 individuals, 33 of whom are already thriving in meaningful, community-based, competitive-wage employment.
A great example of this I’d like to share with you is Sodexo, a multi-national food services and facilities management company with contracts throughout Greater Houston’s university and health care systems. This summer, our partnership with Sodexo created jobs for nine clients from our Willow River Farms location in Brookshire, TX. Each day, these individuals choose to go to work, wear their uniforms proudly, forge meaningful relationships with colleagues, build marketable skills, and earn their own money, right in the rural county where they love to live and spend time. This is a choice that they have for the first time because of supporters like you.
Your gift enables us to provide training, job placement assistance, job coaching, long-term support, and other vital services that help adults with I/DD find and succeed in fulfilling employment. Any amount helps to enrich the lives of the clients in our Employment Services program, along with so many others, by giving them the opportunity to define and pursue their own success. Will you make a gift of $50, $100, $250, $500, or another amount this holiday season to help these capable individuals reach their full potential?
On behalf all of us here at The Center, I thank you for being a part of our giving community and wish you and your family a very happy holidays.
Sincerely,
Charles C. Canton CEO, The Center
Programs like this one can only continue with your help!