Anixter Center
2001 N. Clybourn Ave.
Suite 302
Chicago, IL 60614
www.anixter.org
Contact: Andrew J. Fernandez

The Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center is a private, non-profit, community-based, rehabilitation organization that serves people with disabilities living in the metropolitan Chicago area. Annually, Anixter Center serves over 5000 individuals who have developmental disabilities, mental illness, sensory deficits, physical disabilities, and medical disabilities. Its services include vocational training and placement, academics and skill development, residential services, community living, substance abuse prevention and treatment, mental health services, literacy services, services for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, community reintegration for people with brain injury and HIV prevention, case management and counseling.

Anixter Center is committed to maximizing direct hire customized employment opportunities and lessening its dependence on 14c minimum wage work waivers. Anixter Center will assist 24 individuals to obtain employment within the next two years. We hope to improve vocational services by accomplishing the following objectives, through training and technical assistance provided by T-TAP:

• Enhance the advocacy skills of agency staff so that they can present the idea of community-based services more effectively.
• Enhance the agency staff's ability to educate corporations and foundations about this change in philosophy in order to maximize resources.
• Training to help staff and management make the transition to community-based services.
• Assistance in developing the procedures for implementing the project including a reasonable timeline to enhance the probability of early success.
• Training in how to instruct service recipients and their family members to be active participants in selecting a job and employment location.

Coastal Center for Developmental Services, Inc. (CCDS) is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) agency in Savannah, Georgia. CCDS and its subsidiary corporation, Chatham Industries, Inc., have been active in the Savannah community for more than 35 years. In the past decade, CCDS has become a leading force in the state by providing quality services to people with disabilities. The agency is overseen by a board of directors comprised of area business leaders, parents, and an individual currently receiving services from the agency. CCDS is funded by state block grant funds, federal Medicaid dollars, and monies generated by Chatham Industries businesses.

CCDS provides a variety of professional, training, and employment-related services to nearly 300 individuals with developmental disabilities in the Southeast Region of Georgia. With the mission of empowering adults with developmental disabilities to make life choices, CCDS is dedicated to the rights and responsibilities of full community citizenship. This is achieved through education, advocacy, services and supports that are driven by individual choice. CCDS has established the following goals:

CCDS is committed to placing 60 individuals into Community Employment over the next fiscal year.

Friendship, Inc.is a private, non-profit organization owned by Catholic Health Initiatives, a non-profit organization based in Denver, Colorado. Friendship, Inc. provides a full array of residential and vocational services to people with disabilities in two different regions of North Dakota, one urban and one rural and has been a successful supported employment provider since 1986. Through our collaboration with T-TAP,Friendship, Inc. is now focusing on converting our center-based employment services to community-based employment. Friendship, Inc. has established the following goals:

• Increase access to community-based employment for people currently served in center-based services.
• Enhance job development strategies.
• Reduce the use of Section 14(c) employment.
• Increase access to employment & VR funding for people with significant support needs.
• Successfully manage organizational change.

The Arc of the District of Columbia, Inc. (The Arc of DC) is a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1950 by a small group of parents of children with mental retardation. The organization has provided a broad array of services to literally thousands of District citizens with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities over the past fifty-four (54) years, serving as a primary advocate. Today, The Arc of DC provides comprehensive employment and training services to persons with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities in the Washington Metropolitan area.

The Arc of DC currently operates transitional and supported employment programs, which provide assistance in training, choosing, obtaining and succeeding in paid employment positions within the community. The organization is committed to maximizing direct hire customized employment opportunities for individuals who participate in traditional facility based models in order to enhance their quality of life and the opportunity for community based, integrated employment. The Arc of DC plans to assist 20 individuals to obtain and maintain direct hire employment within the next two years. They hope to improve their vocational and employment services by accomplishing the following objectives through training and technical assistance provided by T-TAP:

• Eliminate barriers to community employment by educating staff, individuals with disabilities, families and the community at large about its benefits.
• Establish successful methods for job development and employer training.
• Provide training and staff development that will give staff the necessary skills to develop competitive employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
• Create job opportunities for individuals with significant challenges.
• Design a state-of-the art model for the District enhancing customized employment and job sustainability.
• Design and implement a strong marketing and business plan to include the establishment of a Business/Employer Advisory Committee.

The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region’s mission, "To assist people with developmental disabilities to identify and pursue personally-valued lives", offers a powerful guiding principle for supports and services to over 400 adults and children with developmental disabilities and their families in Harford and Cecil Counties, Maryland. A dedicated team of nearly 200 Arc employees - in partnership with volunteers, community members and organizations - works with individuals and families to define and achieve personal outcomes through supported living, vocational, family and individual support services, foster care and adoptive services. The Arc's commitment to results was most recently recognized in feature stories on National Public Radio and in the Wall Street Journal. Founded in 1953 and incorporated in 1969, The Arc is a local chapter of The Arc of Maryland and The Arc of the United States and an affiliate agency of The United Way of Central Maryland and The United Way of Cecil County.