Statements
Mission
The mission of the Community Development Center is to provide supports and services to children, families and individuals with disabilities while addressing the health and well-being of all persons in the communities in which we serve.
Our vision is to connect, collaborate, and serve communities as a whole while promoting inclusivity of all abilities.
Background
Founded in 1972 in the Shelbyville Episcopal Church of the Redeemer as the Child Development Center by families of children with developmental delays and disabilities. The Child Development Center expanded in the 80's and 90's to provide additional programs serving all ages of individuals with disabilities and therefore changed the name to the Community Development Center to be more inclusive. The agency has continued to evolve and now serves seventeen counties in Middle Tennessee, with a significant focus in the South Central part of the state. The Community Development Center focuses on providing services to individuals of all ages and their families, beginning with young children with developmental delays and reaching all the way to the senior years by providing support coordination for adults with disabilities. Programs including support for families with disabilities, behavior therapy services to children with autism, and employment services are dimensions of service which the agency has undertaken. These services complement the mission and expand our capabilities to change lives.
Impact
The Community Development's most significant accomplishments during this past year were (1) the continued growth of the Children's Center for Autism in both locations to serve children and families; (2) providing quality early intervention therapy and assessments to over 702 children and their families within the expanded service area of 11 rural counties; (3) supporting 259 individuals through the Independent Support Coordination program; (4) providing flexible support services to over 252 families through the Family Support program; and (5) serving over 144 individuals/students through the Employment Services program, including Pre-Employment Transition Services. Goals for the current year are (1) to expand the services provided by the Children's Center for Autism program into the Lincoln County Center to further meet the needs of the community; (2) to continue to provide quality early intervention services for children birth to three and increasing the age of children eligible to age four; (3) to increase services provided through the Employment and Community First CHOICES program; (4) to increase referrals received in the CDC Employment Services program and increasing the number of schools served through Pre-Employment Transition services; and to (5) increase the outreach and therefore the impact of our Senior Equipment Loan Program.
Needs
(1) Increase Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) staff in order to further expand the Children's Center for Autism program into additional locations to meet the growing needs; (2) Physical expansion of the Children's Center for Autism site in Marshall County, increasing the capacity to serve more children; (3) Increase funding to support the implementation of the Employment Services program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities; and (4) Volunteers to serve on the local community Advisory Boards.
CEO Statement
The Community Development Center has impacted the lives of persons with disabilities since 1972. Through dedicated staff, board members, volunteers, and community members, the programs of the agency have continued to grow and develop to meet the increasing needs within our communities. Our agency provides a variety of programs that together serve individuals with intellectual and developmental delays and disabilities birth through the end of life. All programs work with families and the person's support group and provide services, supports, and referrals to meet the needs of the individual. The communities in South Central and Middle Tennessee are very supportive and the Community Development Center works with many partnering agencies to provide needed services in our area.
Board Chair Statement
The efforts and contributions of the Community Development Center have been invaluable both to the individuals and families served as well as the communities in which the programs are located. I am grateful to serve as chairman of the CDC Governing Board for those efforts and contributions. The agency has made a critical difference to over 1,000 families who live in the South Central District through the provision of direct services in the early intervention programs, support coordination of services for adults with disabilities, supports to families who have a member with a disability and behavior therapy for children with autism. This clearly has a dramatic effect on many lives! The primary reason for my years of long involvement and investment in this cause is because I believe there is no more relevant and powerful hands-on program available anywhere to turn a child's life around at an early age. The significant differences in these lives are known to over 89 Advisory Board members who take a hands-on role in their local communities and I speak on behalf of those board members as well. The funding of these programs, providing adequate salaries to staff for their commitments in performing excellent jobs as well as the ongoing guiding of the agency to fulfill its mission are areas of challenges. However, the long term results make these challenges surmountable and as a Board, we gladly undertake them.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Developmentally Disabled Services/Centers |
| Secondary Category: | Education - Special Education |
| Tertiary Category: | Human Services - Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations |
Areas Served
South Central and Middle Tennessee
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Lawrence |
| TN - Lincoln |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Moore |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Wayne |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Lewis |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Perry |
