ZACK'S PLACE ENRICHMENT CENTER INC

Our purpose is to afford our special needs population of all ages, access to programs that provide them with an enriching and social day while also engaging them with the community at large. For those that have aged out of the school system these programs keep them learning, social, and continuing as part of the community.

In addition to the full time executive director, an Associate Director,two program directors are responsible for overseeing the delivery of the hands on programming each day. In addition, professional instructors deliver specialized classes such as art, yoga, music, fitness, and reading and writing. Volunteers conduct other programs such as dance, Zumba, certain crafts, and cooking. Community members are always welcomed and many participate in our regular program activities. Participants requiring an aide are accompanied by their individual aide hired and paid independently of Zack's Place. Many of our participants attend without the need for an aide such as those with autism or Downs syndrome and they attend independently. With this model, depending on what the program is, we are able to include a group of 20 or more participants in any program. We are proudly offering our sixth musical production to be performed on stage at the local theater this May which will star 18 of our own participants and 18 people from the community at large.

Each year since our beginning we have realized these goals and grown and improved. We have a dedicated and caring staff and very active and involved board. Our funding, which is derived solely from grants, donations, and the proceeds of our own fundraisers, has matched our growing need. Our local communities have embraced Zack's Place with ever growing generosity as our footprint has expanded. The rural community we serve is a close knit one. As awareness of the truly unique programming and of what we and our participants bring to the community has become more known, our ability to fundraise has also grown. That being said, some of our contributors and grantors are geographically distant but our quality of our programs inspires those donors as well.

We have succeeded in providing a safe, enriching, and social setting where people who would otherwise be home alone, or accompanied by aides to shopping malls fill their days. Our participants choose the programs they will partake of. Some love the arts, theater, and music. Some love the fitness activities such as yoga, or the adaptive sports such as cycling, golf, bowling, horse-back riding, canoeing, kayaking, or swimming. Some love the winter Special Olympics adaptive sports of snowshoeing or skiing. Our snowshoe program is a “unified" one where local middle and high school students partner with a ZP athlete and compete as a unit. The local high school students sponsor a prom each spring, decorate the gym, provide music and snacks, and dance with us for hours. Our objective is to bring our people with special needs forefront and center into the everyday world we all live in while providing a fun and rewarding experience. September of 2016 marks the beginning of our 10th anniversary year and our board is now exploring a “Sustainability Campaign" to create an endowment fund to insure the long term viability of this wonderful place we call Zack's Place.