Carla Colvin, Semi-Independent Living Specialist at Opportunity Partners-Anoka, goes above and beyond to provide individualized care for the people she supports. Her hard work and compassion have earned her national recognition as the 2013 Direct Support Professional Recognition Award winner for the state of Minnesota. Carla is one of only 46 people nationwide to receive this honor from trade association ANCOR. Carla is a strong advocate for the people she supports and consistently creates positive change in the individuals she works with. Carla received the award at the ANCOR conference in Washington, D.C. on April 30.

Carla developed a passion for people with disabilities when as a child riding the school bus she saw other children treating kids with special needs as “different.” Years later, she left a job in the insurance industry to follow her passion to care for people and has now worked in the field for 15 years. Carla goes the extra mile to customize her care to meet the unique needs of each individual. Carla says: “If you take the time to get to know what motivates the people you serve, it makes for some pretty amazing accomplishments. I make it a point to teach the people I serve that a person’s disability is not their identity, that we are all intentionally flawed to make us unique and that everyone has value.”

PHOTO: Carla Colvin accepts her national award from ANCOR President Dave Toeniskoetter.

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She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Parkinson Foundation Minnesota and is the past Treasurer and Finance Chair of the Friends School of Minnesota.

“We are delighted to have Alice on board,” said Opportunity Partners President & CEO George Klauser. “Her expertise in strategy, leadership, management and financial analysis will serve Opportunity Partners well. We would also like to thank our retiring CFO Bruce Bester for providing Opportunity Partners 40 years of distinguished service.”

Established in 1953, Opportunity Partners is celebrating its 60th anniversary of helping people with disabilities live, learn and work more independently through innovative services and collaborations with business. One of the largest social service agencies in Minnesota, the organization supports 1,700 people with disabilities each year.

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The students, Claire Glattly and Neal Leines, competed in the AbilityOne Design Challenge, an annual competition encouraging students to develop assistive technologies that empower people with disabilities to overcome barriers to employment. The competition was hosted by NISH, a national nonprofit agency whose mission is to create employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities. The students were required to build a functioning prototype of their device in order to be considered for contention. After touring the Opportunity Partners production floor, the students decided to create a “buckle box,” allowing for easier assembly of blow-dart guns, a product assembled for Palco Sports Inc.

Out of hundreds of entries, the Minnetonka students and their “buckle box” were chosen among five final projects to compete for Design of the Year. The students, along with two Opportunity Partners staff members and a person served, were invited to Washington, D.C. to demonstrate the project to a panel of judges. The device placed third in the competition, and participants with disabilities took to the stage to talk about the importance of having a job and receiving a paycheck.

The “buckle box” will be used on Opportunity Partners’ production floor to generate a more efficient workflow.

To learn more about the AbilityOne Design Challenge, visit: www.a1designchallenge.org.

“Buckle box” demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khTMd5CXuk0

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For more information on hoMEbase or to take a tour, contact Doug Annett at dannett@opportunities.org or call 952-930-4283.

Living with Disability – ABC Newspapers

Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Opportunity Partners is a Twin Cities non-profit organization providing employment, training and residential services to 1,700 people with disabilities annually. Part of its mission involves providing companies quality business solutions ranging from contracted work teams to individual candidates for jobs. Opportunity Partners has completed a wide variety projects for DecoPac since 2008, packaging nearly 75,000 pieces for the company in 2012 alone. In recognition of the partnership, Opportunity Partners will award DecoPac its Customer of the Year Award February 27 at its annual recognition luncheon.

Located in Minneapolis, DecoPac is the world world’s largest wholesale cake decoration supplier and marketer. DecoPac’s mission is to serve the professional cake decorating market with unique, innovative, quality products. The company’s origins trace back to 1919, when McGlynn’s Bakery opened in Minneapolis. The family-owned business was one of the first to operate in-store supermarket bakeries in 1962. The McGlynn family formed DecoPac in 1982 as an internal division to supply cake decorations to their own bakeries; the division became the direction for the company, and the family is still actively involved as company owners today.

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Classmate Justin chimed in, “We have the skills and talents.”

Zach and Justin completed a five-week training program piloted by Minneapolis area Opportunity Partners, Inc., in collaboration with The Arc Greater Twin Cities and Dunwoody College of Technology. Certificates, in addition to pride and hope, marked Zach’s and Justin’s graduations.

“My whole family’s happy for me,” Zach said, grinning. “It’s the beginning of something new.”

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Taking his cue from the sound of coins dropping in the bucket, Gregory (who is legally blind) expresses his gratitude. “Thank you for giving to the Salvation Army. Merry Christmas. God bless you,” he says.

Read more in this article about how nonprofit Opportunity Partners works with the Salvation Army to fill spots as bell ringers during the busy holiday season.

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