VIP Services, Inc.

Empowering people with disabilities to explore and experience endless possibilities. Our Beginnings In 1970, a dedicated group of parents from the Walworth County Association for Retarded Citizens (W.C.A.R.C.) initiated a study group to provide a future for their children who were beginning to graduate from Lakeland School and having a hard time finding a place in the community.

After two years of long and productive review and study, in 1972 the group rented space in a 1,700 square foot factory shell in Elkhorn and mobilized County volunteers to contribute the time, talents, paint, materials, supplies and equipment necessary to launch the Walworth County Achievement Center. The initial program emphasized working on arts and crafts projects to help the three person staff assess work skills and to begin to build a base of financial support though product sales at the Walworth County Fair.

Simultaneously, the organization's first director began seeking donated machines and sub-contract work from local businesses to allow the organization to expand. Delavan's Ajay Enterprises and East Troy Specialties were two of the earliest corporate partners, helping to provide on-the-job training to teach good work habits and develop appropriate work skills. Soon the number of corporate partners grew to include a dozen local businesses.

In 1975, the organization's name was changed to Vocational Industries, Inc. and the first Board of Directors was formed with Gordon W. Lambert serving as the first President. With the passage of the national Rehabilitation Act of 1973, outlawing discrimination against people with disabilities, greater awareness spread and state and local governments began initiating their own changes by developing proactive public policy guidelines. New concepts such as program accessibility, mainstreaming and independent living began to emerge and public funds began to be available to help provide new services. VIP Services embarked on a long and mutually beneficial public-private partnership with the Walworth County Department of Human Services to expand services to many new clients. 

By 1976, with clients flocking to the Center and an increasing number of businesses contracting work, the organization built a new 14,000 square foot facility on Centralia Street in Elkhorn. Clients experienced more possibilities than they or their families had ever imagined, but still the growth continued. By the late 1980's, the agency was serving nearly 200 clients annually and was bursting at the seams.

In 1989, an 18,000 square foot addition was built to alleviate what had come to be a critical overcrowding problem. During this period, VIP Services continued building strong relationships with local corporations to provide jobs and generate revenues. The organization also nurtured a growing spirit of entrepreneurship. The earliest entrepreneurial effort involved an in-house printing business started in 1973 and soon expanded to include a lawn maintenance program.

New efforts blossomed in the 1980's with the addition of an in-house catering program. The organization also entered into a pilot program with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to maintain state rest areas in Walworth and Rock Counties. Most recently, the Moments Remembered program was launched in 2000 to create and market memorial wreaths from dried flowers. 

In the 1980s, critically needed programs were added to address the broad spectrum of independent living issues that were emerging as clients gained ground in exercising their self-sufficiency. Another exciting dimension was added in 1989 when a grant from the Southeastern Wisconsin Private Industry Job Council allowed the development of a supported community employment program. This important program was created to increase the odds of a VIP client obtaining and retaining employment in the outside workforce. Caseworkers were assigned to visit the work sites, consult with on-site managers about appropriate work duties for individual clients, and to provide the extra measure of reinforcement and positive support to ensure success.

By the mid-1990s, creative new community integration approaches were being implemented including, enclave programs where groups of workers were transported to work sites and jobs were creatively shared. After this initial burst of growth and despite the agency's efforts to expand community employment placements through the 1990?s, the program seemed to have reached a plateau by the end of the decade and growth was stymied. Similarly, a dramatic increase in competition made it impossible to continue the agency's catering program by the end of the 1990's.

Throughout this time frame, VIP Services continued to enjoy strong industry partnerships that kept clients busy with the subcontract work that came to the production center. At the same time, the demand for placements in the agency's day services program was exploding. Improving and expanding day services for clients with multiple severe disabilities had been a target goal since the mid 1990's. However, because this program served those individuals with the most severe cognitive disabilities, it dealt with the critical basics that most of us take for granted: performing the basics of daily personal care, developing the simple communication skills to express basic wants and needs, understanding the basic issues of personal safety, and experiencing overall socialization.

Early in the new century it was becoming increasingly clear that the old Vocational Industries name no longer adequately described the full range of programs being offered. In 2004, the Board approved changing the organization's name to VIP Services, Inc. to more fully reflect the full continuum of services provided to clients in a more positive and inclusive way. Along with the name and logo change, the mission of the organization was redefined to better reflect our commitment to the clients we serve.

The new mission statement declares that VIP Services is dedicated to:

• Empowering people with disabilities to explore and experience endless possibilities.
• Providing possibilities is the cornerstone of our mission.

VIP Services, Inc. makes it possible for people to:

• Identify their life choices and pursue them.
• Learn new work and life skills to help thrive in the community.
• Develop the confidence needed to try new experiences and experience new environments.
• Do more for them so that they can do more for others.

By 2005, VIP Services, Inc. was facing a critical shortage of space and no potential for expansion at its aging and energy inefficient Centralia Street location. In response, the VIP Services Board of Directors launched a multi-year process, which considered a broad range of thoughtful options. Cost factors quickly led to the conclusion that new construction was beyond the agency's financial capabilities. The Board then began to search for an existing location that would simultaneously meet current needs, allow for future growth, and be within financial reach.

The first step toward meeting these criteria came in November of 2005 when VIP Services acquired a new building on an eleven-acre property located at 811 East Geneva Street in Elkhorn. The building originally a big box retail store, offered in excess of 12,000 square feet more space than the Centralia Street site with an additional 2,800 square foot of attached store-front space. Situated on eleven-acres, the site afforded ample space for parking, room for future development, and a dramatically heightened capacity for program visibility.

The second step in the process involved engaging the services of the architectural firm, Kehoe-Henry & Associates, Inc., to redesign the building to meet the needs of our diverse client population. In concert with these acquisition and design activities, VIP Services began conducting its first major capital campaign to privately fund the $2.3 million renovation. Throughout the late summer and fall of 2007, VIP Services staff worked hard to prepare clients for dealing with such a significant change in their daily patterns.

The move to the newly renovated site took place in October of 2007. Rebalancing for the Future The new building afforded the opportunity to pursue many new directions. The greatly increased building footprint provided a much larger and more efficiently designed production work area including, a newly added loading dock for handling the work VIP Services clients perform for over 60 local and regional businesses.

The Day Services complex in the new building meant that significant new opportunities for clients with multiple and severe disabilities would be possible. The program's person-centered planning options focus on allowing clients to achieve their own personal goals and objectives within the time frame of their own flexible schedules. Day Service participants bring with them a broad spectrum of differently able conditions and staff members work with individuals and family members to ensure that they have the right tools to approach the challenges of adult living. Areas of emphasis include social development, community integration, and support of self-determination. Clients are integrally involved in the planning of the monthly calendar of group activities.

Facing the need to significantly expand community employment opportunities head on, the agency applied for a community rehabilitation grant in 2009. With financial and training resources provided through Community Rehabilitation Provider Rebalancing Initiatives secured in both 2009 and 2010, VIP Services has made considerable progress. The agency has worked hard to develop new community resources to introduce clients to the world of community work, to provide staff with new training tools, to secure more prospective community job sites, and to build better relationships with local school districts. The latter partnership is particularly important in helping students to negotiate the challenging process of transitioning into adult life.

All of these changes have served the agency well in the face of the dramatic changes taking place in the service delivery system in our state. Recognizing that people with developmental disabilities increasingly want to take charge of their own lives and that more and more people are asking for services with limited funds available, the state has implemented managed care and IRIS programs to provide funding supports. These programs are based on the concept of self-determination. Self-determination puts more responsibility on the individual receiving service to make decisions about planning their futures and determining how funds available for support are used.

Along with all the positive changes at VIP Services in our programming and work based programs, and enhancing the morale of all involved, there has been a rebirth of community participation and enthusiasm. With this positive influence throughout our community, scores of volunteer-driven programs have been made available to clients. Because volunteers bring with them life and work skills that they can pass on, this in turn then broadens client skills, helping to ensure that the agencies mission of "Empowering people with disabilities to explore and experience endless possibilities" are met.

VIP Services, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization offering a continuum of vocational and community access options to help adults with disabilities attain successful lifestyles in the least restrictive environments.