Bishop Grady Villas

Our life skills program supported 47 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through personalized training designed to help them build meaningful roles in the community. To promote independence and quality of life, we facilitated individualized developmental programs focused on physical wellness, social skill-building, housekeeping, and money management, fostering meaningful relationships and a strong sense of belonging. Community engagement remained a cornerstone of our approach. Participants contributed more than 450 hours of volunteer service across local nonprofits and events, demonstrating their unique value and capacity to enrich the broader community, and engaged in more than 1,200 recreational and community outings, encouraging social inclusion and personal empowerment.

Our supported employment services include both adult employment programs and youth transition programs, collectively serving 467 individuals with disabilities across lake, orange, osceola, polk, and seminole counties. Our adult employment programs support 208 individuals through comprehensive services, including pre-vocational training and counseling, job development, individualized job placement, on-the-job training, and ongoing follow-along support. Services are tailored to each person's goals and may include both group and one-on-one instruction in areas such as career exploration, job market navigation, resume and application development, interview preparation, self-advocacy, workplace social skills, and other competencies essential to achieving meaningful employment. For students, our youth-to-career transition programs offer early exposure to the world of work. This year, 70 high school students participated in project search, a one-year, business-led internship program conducted entirely in the workplace. Students gain real-world job experience while developing employability and independent living skills. In addition, our career camp program provided 131 high school students with immersive experiences focused on work-based learning and job exploration counseling. These camps, which range from 20 to 50 hours, help students build foundational skills for future employment success.