Welcome to BCADD!
We are so glad that you stopped by and are excited to share with you who we are, who we serve and why we do what we do.
Mission:
• To provide employment for individuals with developmental disabilities
• To promote public awareness about developmental disabilities and eliminate stigma
• To provide fundraising opportunities for the developmentally disabled
BCADD was formed with the intent to provide an alternative to traditional “sheltered workshops” by providing employment for the developmentally disabled. Additionally, BCADD provides community education, advocacy and fundraising options for other non-profits with similar interests.
BCADD educates the general public about inclusion, alternatives to sheltered programs, and the abilities of the developmentally disabled to not only package but to sell, inventory and provide an example to the community of teamwork and alternative employability.
BCADD opened its first “store front” in 2009. The store front is utilized both as a work force environment as well as a product distribution site. On-site tours and open houses for school-age transitional students will be offered free of charge. Internships and communication skills will be offered to area schools as a life skill option.
BCADD provides art therapy with the wares of those classes showcased on-site, for sale and with the net proceeds benefiting the artist. Local artists volunteer their time and talent each day to oversee the program. With the addition of this venture, we have the opportunity to provide intervention, education and outreach to a much broader range of disabled individuals in our community at a much younger age.
In early 2008, BCADD offered counseling and advocacy to the residents of Benton County. In doing so, and at no cost to the public, BCADD has been accepted as a knowledgeable and trustworthy advocate for the disabled and one which looks to the private sector for solu-tions to budgetary cuts. Volunteers have been recruited to continue with the counseling as well as the outreach to keep parents, care-givers and providers in a network of care to better serve each other, the community and the private sector. All of this has been done on a volunteer basis from home sites with 100% of the costs absorbed by parents, volunteers and providers.
Other educational events have included open forum speaking engagements for our elderly community who are still caring for their adult disabled children, grandparents as parents groups, high school transitional students and social workers.
BCADD also provides adaptive training manuals for home care, home schooling and private sector organizations. The training teaches, in an easy to read, step-by-step format, daily living skills, nutrition and self-esteem to those with developmental disabilities to help those that need it to become viable citizens within our commu-nity while raising levels of self-reliance and decreasing levels of dependency.