STARS would like to thank everyone who made a personal financial contribution in support of our mission during the past 18 months! Along with the funding received from grant awards, the Federal CARES Act, and Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities, your donations have helped to sustain STARS business operations during the time our participant programs were suspended.

For the first time in a long time, STARS ended the 2020-2021 fiscal year with a surplus. We could not have achieved this without your love and support!

The many months of program suspension provided opportunities for the STARS Executive Team to thoroughly evaluate each or our participant programs. We care deeply about the needs of those in our community with developmental disabilities, and our caring nature led to two significant changes in participant programming.

 

Unfortunately, the pandemic led to the immediate loss of employment for 34 participants in our group supported employment (GSE) program. Amazingly, our team was well prepared to pivot from an on-the-job training program that rarely led to community employment, to a model that focuses on employment FIRST, followed by onsite training. Since launching our new Employment First Initiative, 16 job-seekers are now employed in inclusive community job settings, and another 31 are engaged in pre-employment discovery and onsite job training!

 

We also launched a new HCBS program, a suite of in-home supports that include attendant care, homemaker, habilitation and respite. This has enabled STARS direct support workers to provide program services to participants who prefer to receive them in a home setting. HCBS will allow STARS to offer supports to individuals who may not easily be able to travel to a STARS campus for day treatment.

 

While STARS has been fortunate to have several positive outcomes during difficult times, we are not out of the woods yet.  We humbly ask that you make a donation to our annual campaign prior to December 31st. We are grateful for your continued financial support.

 

Contact Us

STARS
7507 E Osborn Road,
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
480.994.5704  dhenderson@starsaz.org

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