Opportunity Matters Inc

St. Cloud Area’s Opportunity Manor Inc. was established in 1980 by its parent company, Opportunity Training Center (OTC), to meet St. Cloud’s emerging housing needs for people with disabilities. During its first 13 years in business, Opportunity Manor Incorporated provided these services to 24 people served at two 12-bed Intermediate Care Facilities in the St. Cloud Area of Stearns and Sherburne Counties. A shift toward smaller residential settings, introduced by the government in 1994, provided the necessary incentive for Opportunity Manor to expand its programs by adding four 4-bed facilities in Stearns and Benton County during 1994 -1995. Opportunity Manor could now afford to be more proactive in its residential growth management, and scope of services, so it decided to expand by offering day programming to its existing residential clients and clients from the larger community. Opportunity Manor decided to reach out to a growing community of seniors experiencing physical and mental changes due to dementia-related diseases. One of Opportunity Manor’s greatest resources is its staff; a staff well suited to assist seniors with changing physical capabilities often associated with dementia. The staff is also highly effective at designing personalized programming and assessing client abilities. OMI determined that it could best serve this population and region by offering a day program for seniors with mild to moderate memory loss. The program, named Golden Opportunities, opened for business in July, 2006. Further progress took place in the fall of 2006. OMI opened Christensen House, a four-bed waiver home in St. Joseph, MN in October 2006 which was named after the late CEO, Jim Christensen. The organization is now operating at their preferred capacity, serving 70 individuals at 17 sites. Program Diversification With the stabilization of the residential services, Opportunity Manor Inc. could begin to diversify and seek opportunities to serve more people living in the community. Identifying an unmet need, the organization created a new transitional learning and day programming. In 2005, a new 7,500 square foot facility opened in Sartell to house Opportunity Manor’s administrative offices and Pathway to Opportunities (PTO). PTO opens up a world of opportunities to people with disabilities by teaching independence through Transitional Learning; teaching techniques that simulate natural environments and emphasize peer learning, and opportunities to demonstrate newly learned skills in a normal environment to lock in confidence. PTO clears the way to personal independence by designing programming to meet an individual’s learning needs. The curriculum is outcome based and includes varying skill paths including: social skills, challenging behaviors, money management, effective communication, job readiness, employment responsibilities, community integration and much more. Once only a dream, this program now serves 22 clients with plans for continued growth in 2009. In June 2006, Golden Opportunities, a day program for seniors experiencing early to moderate memory loss and dementia related illness was created. Golden Opportunities connects people with memory loss-related needs to the services and caring support necessary to help them live at home as long as possible. Families of the loved ones experiencing these unique mental (and often physical) challenges will find their partnership with Golden Opportunities gives them full or part time relief from their day time care responsibilities. The program currently serves 5 people with the capacity to grow to serve 20 families. Opportunity Manor’s entrepreneurial skills, combined with their respected human service competencies, were identified as strengths when the board and staff participated in a two year capacity building program through the Central Minnesota Initiative Foundation’s, Healthy Organization Program, (HOP). The two-step process, started in late 2005, strengthened the board’s governing process, reaffirmed the mission and vision, and created a 5 year strategic plan. Additionally, this capacity building process encouraged staff to look at new opportunities to build the organization’s capacity such as launching services for individuals with memory loss issues and working with the senior population who may not have a developmental disability. In January of 2008 OMI developed its Volunteer program to enrich the lives of our clients and build relationships with our community. The volunteer program has numerous volunteers from the local community as well as the surrounding schools and colleges working one on one with the clients to improve their daily living and independence skills. Some of the opportunities people volunteer for range from activities assistant to mentoring to direct care. The program has grown dramatically in the last year and continues to provide our clients with outside interaction and brings an element of happiness to their lives on a regular basis. A group of volunteers had 10 garden boxes made for the sites and the main office. Another volunteer made shirt covers for the clients that saved the company over $300 if they had to be purchased. In the first year, over 40 volunteers have contributed over 2000 service hours at an estimated value of $42,000 of service to consumers of OMI. Mission and Goals Opportunity Manor Incorporated exists so that the people with mental and/or physical challenges can live independent, fulfilling, and healthy lives in the community. To that end the people served by OMI will:  Maximize their independence in terms of self-care, mobility, and decision-making, taking into account their personal goals, safety and level of confidence.  Experience personal fulfillment and acceptance through: A. An enjoyable home life B. Rewarding work experiences C. Satisfying recreation D. Connections with the larger community E. Have the competencies and support necessary to secure and maintain employment should that be the client’s goal.  Receive the support from families, caregivers, employers and friends to be accepted as contributing members of society.  Achieve growth over 5 years in the number of individuals served through all OMI programming. Collaborations: Opportunity Manor’s growth over the years is directly related to networking and collaborating with a wide variety of social service programs, civic organizations, city councils, related businesses, granters and neighbors. Partnering relationships include: Day Training and Habilitation Centers: WACOSA, Waite Park, Independence Center, Waite Park, Options, Big Lake, Opportunity Services, St Cloud. Schools of High Education: St. Cloud State University Rehab and Support Services: Speech, Physical, Occupational Therapy (SPOT) Rehab and the St. Cloud Memory Disorders Clinic: School Districts: St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids-Rice districts: Non-Profit Related Organizations: Big Brothers-Big Sisters Central (BBBS), St. Cloud, YMCA, St. Cloud, Boys & Girls Club Number of board members, paid staff (full-time and part-time) and volunteers 8 Board members – See Attachment ___ for affiliation information 58 Full-time staff 200 Part-time staff 40 Volunteers 10 Student interns Ken Gossett, Ph.D. Director of Development June, 2009