Empowering Members to Explore the World at their Doorstep

What a difference a year can make. During the last few years, long-time Envision Unlimited member Tamekia, a 44-year old non-verbal person with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a seizure disorder and autism, stuck close to home. She was reluctant to wear a mask, attend her day program and walking around the neighborhood was taboo.

what can happen when an individual feels safe and when an organization invests in the wellbeing of that individual and listens when someone says they need help.”

Tamekia and Annette’s experience speaks volumes about what can happen through the innovative Neighbors Program by helping them explore the world at their doorsteps. Through a lens of human dignity and empathy, the program is rooted in the mindset that members will acquire a sense of agency and have meaningful experience through getting to know and explore their own neighborhoods, said Susan Gardner, Vice President, Day and Employment Services.

But thanks to the trusted relationship she has built over many years with Annette Davis, a social worker and her Envision Unlimited aide, and the Neighbors Program, Tamekia started venturing out into her West Side neighborhood, one small step at a time. On a recent trek to the local corner store, the clerk greeted Tamekia by name with a warm welcome, surprising her mother, Sylvia Perez. For the first time in four decades of her daughter’s life, she witnessed Tamekia connecting to and belonging to the local community.

“It was unreal,” said Perez who is the executive director of a social services agency. “It showed

“The goal of the Neighbors Program is to help members become more independent in their neighborhood, so they can exercise that independence when we are not around,” said Gardner. “They can actively engage in their own communities.”

As the name suggests, neighborhood and the idea of community integration refers to welcoming and assimilating people into the larger community. For people with disabilities, this is an important opportunity to fully participate in life in their communities. Through Envision Unlimited many more members like Tamekia are out and about today exploring stores, libraries, and other places where they live.