A Massachusetts nonprofit is making sure everyone has a community and purpose, helping people with disabilities live more independent lives.
The Road to Responsibility houses and employs more than 1,000 adults with intellectual disabilities from the southern tip of Boston to the Cape Cod Canal.
“It’s a lifetime service,” explained Chris White, the organization’s president and CEO. “Our youngest member right now is 22. Our oldest, I believe, is 94.”
However, the program is nearing capacity, and is launching its first endowment campaign to raise awareness during this Intellectual Disability Awareness Month.
“The impact we have on people that we serve is really transformative, and I want to make sure that the mission of Road to Responsibility persists long after I’m gone,” White said. “Because every day is an adventure. It’s never dull.”
“It uplifts the whole place”
Tammy Ford, a 58-year-old with an intellectual disability, spends her days like many Americans — at work, filing papers at her desk, surrounded by colleagues who have now become friends. But her road to get there looks a bit different.
“I’ve been coming to Road to Responsibility for 36 years,” she explained.
Ford, like thousands of Road to Responsibility members, is picked up from her provided home in Hingham and brought to the organization’s central location in Braintree, where she participates in activities and catches up with friends. Then, she is taken to work by her personal case manager, named Dee.
“This is the first time I’ve really loved a job,” Dee said. “[Tammy] keeps me on my toes, keeps me laughing.”
Ford spends Thursdays working at Source One in Braintree. The auto finance company says she delivers excellent work and brings a positive and encouraging attitude.
“Individuals with developmental disabilities, who really like to have things always the same, move through these files really well,” said Michael Parsons, the CFO of Source One Financial Group. “She does it perfectly 100% of the time.”
“These are people who show up for work and they’re actually excited to be here,” he went on to say. “When you have people coming into the office place who are smiling and happy and always in a great mood, it uplifts the whole place.”
Future of the program
Programs like these can be few and far between. The state stops providing services for those with developmental disabilities at the age of 22, leaving hundreds of families searching for resources.
“There have been people who have been waiting for five years to get into adult services,” explained White. “Those are five really critical years.”
The nonprofit is launching an endowment campaign, called “Empowering Dreams, Igniting Possibilities,” its first attempt at creating an endowment since opening its doors in 1988.
“The people we’re serving are becoming more complex,” said White. “Our state contracts allow our members to survive, but it’s private philanthropy enables them to thrive and for us to do the really special things.”
They’re hoping to use the interest collected by the endowment to purchase new technology that can then be utilized to advance members’ interpersonal skills.
“We’ve got this really cool program going on now using virtual reality to help members become more socially skilled,” said White.
Allowing people like Ford to live fun, active and productive lives.
