Abilis, the Greenwich-based non-profit organization that provides services and supports for individuals with special needs and their families, opened a new Life Skills program in Wilton, Connecticut, at the Wilton Trackside Teen Center. A Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting was held on October 12 featuring Wilton First Selectman Lynn Vanderslice, Abilis CEO and president Dennis Perry, Wilton Trakside Teen Center executive director Mark Ketley and Abilis Board members and families, including the first several students who will start at the center in the coming weeks.
The Abilis Life Skills Program is designed to help high school graduates with special needs transition into adulthood. The Wilton program represents an expansion of Abilis’ Life Skills program to its fourth location in Fairfield County. The program’s location in several towns throughout Fairfield County enables the benefit of students transitioning from a typical school setting to one that fosters independence and teaches life skills, such as transportation and learning more about their neighborhood in the students’ home communities.
Abilis launched its successful Life Skills Program in first in Greenwich in 2007. The program was created because high school graduates often came to Abilis unprepared to participate in employment programs. The Life Skills program helps these young adults develop the skills they need to be competitively employed and live more independent and socially connected lives. In order to enable students to stay in the communities in which they live, Abilis opened satellite Life Skills programs in Westport in 2016 and in Stamford in September 2017.
“The Wilton program expansion is in response to requests from parents and school district personnel for community-based options to support students graduating from local high schools,” noted Dennis Perry, CEO and president of Abilis. “Transitions are hard for individuals with special needs, but they can be made easier by keeping individuals in the communities in which they are most familiar.”
To learn more about the new Abilis Wilton Life Skills program, visit www.abilis.us or call 203-561-3262.
About Abilis
Abilis is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides services and supports over 700 individuals of all ages with special needs and their families. Abilis has been a leader in serving the special needs community in Fairfield County in towns including, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Westport, Weston and Wilton, and has a long-standing reputation for individualized, high quality care. For more information, visit www.abilis.us, or facebook.com/Abilisinc, twitter.com/Abilis, or instagram.com/abilis_us.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Abilis and the town of Wilton cut the ribbon on the new Abilis Life Skills Program at the Wilton Trackside Teen Center. Pictured are: Tearsha Askew of Abilis, Jeffrey Rutishauser, chairman of the Wilton Board of Finance, Artie DiRocco, president of the Trackside Board of Directors; Lynn Vanderslice, first selectman of Wilton, Dennis Perry, CEO and president of Abilis, Mark Ketley, executive director of the Trackside Teen Center and Tim Murtha of Abilis. Photo credit: Cara Gilbride @ Callalily Studios.