Disability Resources Incorporated
"Who will love her when
I am no longer around?"
Everyday hundreds of parents and family agonize
over that single question. Decisions faced by
the families of developmentally disabled individuals
are always difficult. And major decisions on
living arrangements when a family is unable
to care for a disabled individual can be agonizing.
DRI Folks and Staff at the Pumpkin Patch
Many families have found such decisions easier
to make after they meet with Disability
Resources Incorporated (DRI) and
are reassured by our approach to providing services.
Our desire is to offer the developmentally disabled
person a fulfilled life, which comes from an
unbroken circle of the qualities that make out
lives complete, including family, friends, love,
work, and home.
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DRI folks packaging
Billy Bean's "I Scream Salsa"
DRI folks and
staff checking a vat
in the Vocational Building
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DRI work
opportunities allow developmentally disabled
individuals to find satisfaction in using their
abilities and being contributing members of
society. They find opportunities on our 110
acre farm near Abilene and at our vocational
center. Under the management of Big Country
Game Bird Farm, DRI participants help raise
quail, pheasant, and ostrich. They take great
pride in producing pickled quail eggs and gift
boxes of smoked quail and pheasant.
DRI began
as a task group of Abilene citizens formed in
1983 to study the problems of families faced
with long term care of their disabled children
and to make recommendations regarding alternative
care. The need for the project was documented
through surveys, site visits to existing facilities,
attendance at national conferences, research
of state and federal laws and plans, and family
interviews.
The task group discovered that although a number
of residential centers and sheltered workshops
for the more profoundly disabled individuals
existed throughout the nation, residential and
vocational services for the high level developmentally
disabled individual were almost non-existent.
Because of the magnitude of the problems and
the widespread need, the task group recommended
that a private non-profit agency be created
to plan, develop and administer a program to
address the needs of developmentally disabled
individuals and their families.
DRI became
chartered as a nonprofit corporation in January
1987. The purpose of the agency is to provide
residential care; training and meaningful jobs
for developmentally disabled individuals who
qualify for the program.DRI
is financed by private donations, residential
fees, vocational enterprises and some State
funds. At the present time, DRI
operates four residential facilities. |
