Our Services

Our programs and services

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individual and group activities

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Want to sail? Golf? Garden? Cook? Dance? Practice yoga? Make beautiful arts and crafts? Start a microbusiness? Volunteer for a nonprofit organization? Hang out with friends?

 

We’ve got all that … and more!

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The Maher Center is a warm community of friends dedicated to helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities create and live full, active lives that make them happy.

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Our multidisciplinary team works closely with Maher Center participants and their families to create and carry out Individual Service Plans - often including some combination of individual and group activities - that reflect each person’s unique needs and interests. Activities are based on our Aquidneck Avenue campus in Middletown, Rhode Island and at myriad locations on Aquidneck Island and throughout the East Bay.

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All of our services - from individual and group activities to residential services to training and employment - are supported by our on-demand, wheelchair-friendly transportation services. Our team of professional drivers pilots a fleet of 44 vehicles - several of which are wheelchair friendly - to take our participants wherever they need to go.

 

Life to its fullest. In all the ways that matter to you. That’s our goal. Every day.

 

residential services

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Our Maher Center community includes people who live in ten supportive residences operated by the Center, as well as people who live independently or with their families,.

 

Staffed 24/7 by direct support professionals, behavioral health specialists, and other multidisciplinary team members, our residences provide bright, cheerful living environments designed to meet residents’ unique needs. (Four of our residences are dedicated to the care and comfort of people who live with complex medical challenges as well as intellectual and developmental disabilities.)

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Many of our residents have lived together in the same home for decades - enjoying stability and consistency and building a sense of family.

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The Maher Center is also licensed by the State of Rhode Island to support individuals who would like to experience a shared living arrangement (SLA.) SLAs allow people with developmental disabilities to live in a house or apartment with an individual or family who can help with daily activities or needs while sharing positive everyday life experiences. Rigorous screening, a thoughtful and extensive matching process, and ongoing training and support services are all part of the SLA experience.

 

employment and training

 

Did you know that only about one-third of all Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities are currently employed? And that a third have never been employed?

Yet, among people from our community who are employed, more than 60% have been in their jobs for more than three years.

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At the Maher Center, we’re about fulfilling the potential of every person - while building a more inclusive world by helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities find and succeed at jobs they love.

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With a little help from our job coaches, drivers, and transportation team - and with the support of the incredible people and businesses who partner with us to create opportunity! - Maher Center people are working in grocery stores, retail establishments, offices, and many other workplaces in our communities, including Naval Station Newport and the Naval War College.

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Three inclusive job training programs - preparing people for culinary, horticulture, and retail careers - are offered on our Aquidneck Avenue campus in Middletown, RI.

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We also operate a youth opportunity program, through which we provide work readiness coaching in schools as well as other services.