Ability Beyond Disability Maps

 A New Blueprint For The Future

In 1953 a small group of parents formed a small organization known as the Danbury Association to Advance the Handicapped and Retarded.

 The nonprofit organization grew steadily during the following decades, eventually moving into a 62,000-square-foot facility on Old State Street in Brookfield and changing its name to Datahr Rehabilitation Institute to reflect its expansion into serving the needs of persons disabled by injury or illness as well as by developmental disorders. Soon it was serving nearly 1,000 people in more than 90 residences and 160 employment sites in western Connecticut and New York, including 180 at the sheltered workshop in its Brookfield headquarters.

 This year, its 50th anniversary, will bring major changes again. Datahr has changed its name to Ability Beyond Disability (ABD) and plans to sell its building with the intent of bringing these sheltered workshop participants out of a segregated environment and into community-based programs and services.

ABD has already raised more than $4 million and wants to raise a total of $7 million to expand its efforts to comply with both President George Bush’s New Freedom Initiative and with the Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision. In the 1999 decision, the court ruled that it is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act to discriminate against people with disabilities by providing services only in institutions when they could be served in a community-based setting.

“The move to provide services within the community is driven by the desires of people with disabilities,” said Thomas Fanning, ABD president and chief executive officer. “Just as people moved out of institutions 20–25 years ago because they wanted to be in their communities, people with disabilities today want the opportunity to become a real part of their community, just like the rest of us.”

Mr Fanning said Ability Beyond Disability has launched three major initiatives know as Community Integration, Home Advantage, and Endowment during the past and these have resulted in two successful community integration pilot programs, one in New York and one in Connecticut.

“What differentiates what we have done from others who have moved toward community integration of services for people with disabilities is the painstaking planning we have done,” Mr Fanning said. “We have absolute confidence as we launch this initiative to integrate 180 people who up until now have been served in segregated settings.”

With the integration of people with disabilities into the community, the building on Old State Street off Federal Road will no longer be needed and it is likely that it will be sold, with the proceeds going toward the efforts to improve the independence and quality of life of these people, he said.

Ability Beyond Disability plans to use $1.9 million to set up a community integration program that will ensure that the 180 people in the sheltered workshop and others in the future will be helped through services that are integrated into the community. The organization will adapt, equip, and renovate homes to meet the changing needs of people with disabilities so they can move to or stay in their communities.

Many of the everyday obstacles that prevent community integration begin at home, explained Pat Conway, ABD community relations manager.

“Home Advantage will address the fundamental needs of all human beings: to promote greater self-sufficiency, to create a healthier environment, to enhance emotional and spiritual well-being, and to facilitate ongoing, general repairs,” he said.

Home Advantage is planned to increase the amount of housing by 50 percent to serve people with disabilities, bringing the total number of people served in residential settings to 550. Approximately $4.1 million is needed to support this goal.

To achieve these goals, Ability Beyond Disability wants to build its endowment by at least $1 million to supplement diminishing state and federal support.

“With an ever-growing number of aging baby boomers, it is anticipated that growing needs for services will outpace government funding,” Mr Conway explained.

Ability Beyond Disability relies upon more than 700 employees and 520 volunteers to carry out its work. Until now it has raised approximately $1.5 million a year to provide its services, which cost about half as much as those provided by state agencies. Ninety-two cents of each dollar contributed goes directly to programs and services.

“This is the most ambitious campaign Ability Beyond Disability has undertaken,” said Charles R. Perrin, vice chairman of the board and one of the chairmen of the 50th anniversary campaign. ‘The early support of many of our donors, coupled with the personal commitment of the Board of Directors, is testament to the fact that this organization is filling a vital need in our community.”

Sharon J. Danosky, vice president of development and community relations for ABD, said the organization has every reason to believe that it will be successful in raising the needed funding.

“At the heart of these initiatives is the recognition [that] we are helping individuals achieve socio-economic independence, which is the cornerstone of a thriving community,” she said.

Major donors to the campaign from Newtown include Thomas Pitts, Arthur and Barbara Phillips, and Paul and Marcia Izzo.

Ability Beyond Disability operates three group homes in Newtown, on West Street, Ridge Road, and Old Hawleyville Road.