Why Community Supports?

Our goal is helping transform community supports systems into fully inclusive, fully integrated entities within which all individuals are interdependent and have equal opportunities to celebrate the humanity of all people and contribute to overall community as each person desires.

To advance our goal we focus on three aspects of community inclusion. They are:

Ongoing Projects

Community Supports presently administers two grants. The oldest is named Wyoming Corporate Partnership or WYCORP. The WYCORP grant was awarded by the US Department of Education, Office of Scientific Educational Research, and Rehabilitation Services Administration. The grant work began in 2000 when RSA approved funding for WYCORP objectives. The primary focus of WYCORP is to create a permanent partnership in communities between consumers, providers and employers.

The second grant Community Supports administers is called the Wyoming Employment Systems Assessment (WESA) grant which is a follow-on grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. It is relevant and interesting to know Wyoming's WESA project grew from a grant awarded in 2001 from funds allocated by the Ticket to Work and Work Improvement Incentives Act (TWWIIA) of 1999... Our initial grant was named Employment Systems Development (ESD). A third grant is being developed at present which would begin in 2007 and end in 2010.

Completed Projects

Community Supports Programs at WIND grew from what was originally a focus on employment. Our first efforts for employment occurred in 1997 with the Cheyenne Employment Development Initiative (CEDI) in Cheyenne.

Following the CEDI, WIND continued to build expertise in the realm of employment through a joint grant effort with the Rural Institute in Montana. Jointly, Wyoming and Montana created the Careers Through Partnership (CTP) project with funds from a grant awarded by the US Department of Labor.

Community Training

Accessibility of employment-focused training and workshops in Wyoming has been a constant challenge. WIND has strong roots in the Wyoming Association of Persons in Supported Employment (WYAPSE) which is a national affiliate of the Association for Persons in Supported Employment (APSE). Collectively, each of the grants administered by WIND has offered quality training in Wyoming communities. Workshops and technical assistance have been delivered inside those communities for over one thousand people throughout the past six years. WIND has a strong commitment to delivering quality state-of-the-art training in communities, at little or no cost.

Past and present workshops and training have included topics such as: