Ability Connection has relocated its training facility and headquarters from Dallas to a 30,000 square-foot space in the Las Colinas area of Irving with increased space to serve people with all types of intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Ability Connection President and CEO, Jim Hanophy, emphasized the strategic significance of the move. “A large number of our population resides closer to this part of town, so this will be much easier for them to access,” he said in a statement. “We’re now able to reach a new group of individuals we weren’t able to before.”
It’s a transformation shift, according to the CEO. With an additional 8,000 square feet of space, the organization will significantly increase its capacity to serve those in need.
Ability Connection, which celebrates its 70th-anniversary milestone this year, serves more than 900 people across Texas and relies on a one-person focus, where skilled staffers learn what priorities individuals and families need and want.
Hanophy said the new training center building will increase the nonprofit’s reach to serve more people as soon as the end of this year.
Ability Connection signed an 11-year lease at 7880 Bent Branch Drive, Suite 150, in Irving and will vacate its current home off Harry Hines in Dallas this month.
Creating opportunities for social and self-advocacy skills
Ability Connection said that with its new facility and added space, members and staff will enjoy increased flexibility with the classrooms for various activities and programming, including new, dedicated spaces for the sensory room, fitness center, and fulfillment room for members to work on community projects and other service opportunities.
The nonprofit said it will continue to focus on all its programmatic endeavors at the new training facility. Ability Connection has specialized programs for adults (as well as youth and teens), all which seek to create meaningful opportunities for social and self-advocacy skills.
Along with its new state-of-the-art training facility, Ability Connection operates and maintains eight group homes throughout Dallas-Fort Worth.
According to their needs, residents in those homes receive supervision from dedicated and caring staff in settings from semi-independent to 24/7 care, Ability Connection said.
Hanophy emphasized that every achievement, no matter how small, is cherished and celebrated within the organization.
“What we do each and every day makes a tremendous impact on the hundreds of lives we touch,” Hanophy said. “Every milestone is a celebration at Ability Condition. Every step towards independence, every improvement a member gains in an occupational therapy session. We celebrate it all.”
Originally founded as the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) Association of Dallas County, Ability Connection has since adapted to the growing needs of the physically and intellectually disabled community in North Texas, changing its name to Ability Connection in 2011.
“We can’t wait to see what’s in store as we expand our capability in better serving our members in our new space,” Hanophy said.
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