Achieve celebrates completion of new 'Envisions' facility in downtown Norwich
Achieve held a ribbon cutting ceremony at their new Envisions facility, located at 96-100 East Main Street in Norwich. The new location aims to further Achieve's mission to provide enhanced quality of life to people with developmental and intellectual disabilities through skill advancement, inclusion, integration with the community, independence, and socialization. (Photo by Sarah Genter)
NORWICH — After more than a year of renovations, Achieve's new "Envisions" facility at 96-100 East Main Street in Norwich is officially open. The organization held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, April 25 to celebrate the completion of the project.
Achieve is a nonprofit organization that provides skill advancement, inclusion, independence, and socialization to more than 2,200 individuals with developmental and other disabilities in Broome, Chenango, and Tioga Counties.
Achieve's Norwich facility has always been located outside of city limits on Country Club Road. However, in recent years the building has been in need of several costly repairs and accessibility features.
Achieve also owns several buildings in Norwich, one of which was a subsidiary manufacturing facility known as CWS Plant 5. The facility closed its doors in late 2021, and in February 2023, the Achieve Board of Directors voted to support the conversion of the vacant warehouse into a state-of-the-art day service program and community-based services hub.
"That property on Country Club Road had offered a lot of opportunities and it was a thriving program for many, many years," said Achieve CEO Amy Howard. "But what we really liked about the idea of moving that facility [and] those people served down to this community is that there would be greater opportunities for participation within the community for activities like volunteering, working, recreational, and social opportunities."
The new facility includes multiple activity rooms, a culinary services space, an activity center, a nurses' station, a culinary arts facility for employment training skills, Hoyer lifts, rail systems, access to public transportation, and a community center, which will be open to the public as part of Achieve's goal to integrate the organization with the community.
"This is all in service to our mission of providing an enhanced quality of life through skill advancement, inclusion, integration, socialization, and independence to the hundreds of individual that we support throughout Chenango County," said Howard.
Additionally, the Envisions facility will be partnering with local businesses to find opportunities for employment skills development and job opportunities for the individuals they serve, as well as developing new recreational respite programming.
"We have a particular interest in focusing on senior care, and it is our dream that we will have senior care services or supports, recreational supports, that will be able to serve both people with varying abilities, but also people without disabilities," Howard explained.
Vincent Schmidt, Director of Regional Field Office 2 for the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), said the facility is a great example of the future of care for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
"It’s not that distant in our history where people with developmental disabilities were really isolated, and you still see that. As I travel around my 20 counties I still see a lot of day habilitation sites that are way out in the middle of nowhere, removed from everything, and it just bothers me. So this is so exciting to see how it’s been brought into the community and what a gift to the community to have this here," said Schmidt. "We talk about how community integration is great for people with developmental disabilities, but we don’t often talk about how great it is for the community to have that presence. So I’m so excited to have this here."
"Several years ago, our organization adopted a new mission statement. It reads, ‘providing people with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities the ordinary and extraordinary opportunities of life.’ This new state-of-the-art day and community services hub space will allow the people we support to realize that mission in a real and impactful way," said Eric Eiser, CEO of the Arc New York, the largest provider of supports and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the country.
"It will allow for greater social, volunteer, recreational, and employment opportunities for the people that we support. Further, it will serve as a valuable resource for the Norwich community. It’s a win-win proposition. Many will get to experience the extraordinary opportunities of life because of this new facility. You should be very proud. I know I am, and I know our organization is as well."
The organization has utilized reserves from previous property sales and grant funding from national foundations to pay for a portion of the project. They also received a $250,000 lead gift from the Achieve Foundation, as well as donations from several community organizations, businesses, and foundations. The overwhelming support of the project allowed Achieve to renovate the facility without any financing.
Supporters of the Envisions facility project include the Achieve Foundation, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, NBT Bank, Mirabito Holdings Inc., Golden Artist Colors, the Raymond Foundation, the R.C. Smith Foundation, the Thomas M. and Esther C. Flanagan Charitable Trust, the NYCM Foundation, Price Chopper's Golub Foundation, the Avangrid Foundation, the Higley Foundation, the Frederick and Ramona Mirabito Foundation, IBM Corporation, Visions Federal Credit Union, Delta Engineers, Norwich Beverage Corporation, David and Mary El Emerson, Norwich Beverage Corporation, the Phyllis and Darryl Forsythe Foundation, the Put God First Foundation, James Reduto, BlueOx Energy, Anne C. Catalano and John Stevens, the Patricia M. and H. William Smith Foundation, Air Temp Heating and AC, Burrell's Excavating, Vance Valerio, Thompson Brothers, Deborah Quackenbush, Ellen Feldman, David Chambers, Vincent and Vicki Flacco, and dozens of other individual donors.
For more information on Achieve, visit AchieveNY.org or the ACHIEVE Facebook page.
Achieve is a nonprofit organization that provides skill advancement, inclusion, independence, and socialization to more than 2,200 individuals with developmental and other disabilities in Broome, Chenango, and Tioga Counties.
Achieve's Norwich facility has always been located outside of city limits on Country Club Road. However, in recent years the building has been in need of several costly repairs and accessibility features.
Achieve also owns several buildings in Norwich, one of which was a subsidiary manufacturing facility known as CWS Plant 5. The facility closed its doors in late 2021, and in February 2023, the Achieve Board of Directors voted to support the conversion of the vacant warehouse into a state-of-the-art day service program and community-based services hub.
"That property on Country Club Road had offered a lot of opportunities and it was a thriving program for many, many years," said Achieve CEO Amy Howard. "But what we really liked about the idea of moving that facility [and] those people served down to this community is that there would be greater opportunities for participation within the community for activities like volunteering, working, recreational, and social opportunities."
The new facility includes multiple activity rooms, a culinary services space, an activity center, a nurses' station, a culinary arts facility for employment training skills, Hoyer lifts, rail systems, access to public transportation, and a community center, which will be open to the public as part of Achieve's goal to integrate the organization with the community.
"This is all in service to our mission of providing an enhanced quality of life through skill advancement, inclusion, integration, socialization, and independence to the hundreds of individual that we support throughout Chenango County," said Howard.
Additionally, the Envisions facility will be partnering with local businesses to find opportunities for employment skills development and job opportunities for the individuals they serve, as well as developing new recreational respite programming.
"We have a particular interest in focusing on senior care, and it is our dream that we will have senior care services or supports, recreational supports, that will be able to serve both people with varying abilities, but also people without disabilities," Howard explained.
Vincent Schmidt, Director of Regional Field Office 2 for the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), said the facility is a great example of the future of care for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
"It’s not that distant in our history where people with developmental disabilities were really isolated, and you still see that. As I travel around my 20 counties I still see a lot of day habilitation sites that are way out in the middle of nowhere, removed from everything, and it just bothers me. So this is so exciting to see how it’s been brought into the community and what a gift to the community to have this here," said Schmidt. "We talk about how community integration is great for people with developmental disabilities, but we don’t often talk about how great it is for the community to have that presence. So I’m so excited to have this here."
"Several years ago, our organization adopted a new mission statement. It reads, ‘providing people with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities the ordinary and extraordinary opportunities of life.’ This new state-of-the-art day and community services hub space will allow the people we support to realize that mission in a real and impactful way," said Eric Eiser, CEO of the Arc New York, the largest provider of supports and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the country.
"It will allow for greater social, volunteer, recreational, and employment opportunities for the people that we support. Further, it will serve as a valuable resource for the Norwich community. It’s a win-win proposition. Many will get to experience the extraordinary opportunities of life because of this new facility. You should be very proud. I know I am, and I know our organization is as well."
The organization has utilized reserves from previous property sales and grant funding from national foundations to pay for a portion of the project. They also received a $250,000 lead gift from the Achieve Foundation, as well as donations from several community organizations, businesses, and foundations. The overwhelming support of the project allowed Achieve to renovate the facility without any financing.
Supporters of the Envisions facility project include the Achieve Foundation, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, NBT Bank, Mirabito Holdings Inc., Golden Artist Colors, the Raymond Foundation, the R.C. Smith Foundation, the Thomas M. and Esther C. Flanagan Charitable Trust, the NYCM Foundation, Price Chopper's Golub Foundation, the Avangrid Foundation, the Higley Foundation, the Frederick and Ramona Mirabito Foundation, IBM Corporation, Visions Federal Credit Union, Delta Engineers, Norwich Beverage Corporation, David and Mary El Emerson, Norwich Beverage Corporation, the Phyllis and Darryl Forsythe Foundation, the Put God First Foundation, James Reduto, BlueOx Energy, Anne C. Catalano and John Stevens, the Patricia M. and H. William Smith Foundation, Air Temp Heating and AC, Burrell's Excavating, Vance Valerio, Thompson Brothers, Deborah Quackenbush, Ellen Feldman, David Chambers, Vincent and Vicki Flacco, and dozens of other individual donors.
For more information on Achieve, visit AchieveNY.org or the ACHIEVE Facebook page.
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