Another Banner Year for Quality Connections
As we head into our 25th year, Quality Connections is continuing to make a huge difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities through its programs, whether it’s at our member’s homes, in the workplace, or through our training and employment programs.
We’ve just completed our 2023 Community Impact report, and are proud to report on some of the ways our work is helping people find greater independence in northern Arizona.
RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS
Quality Connections runs 6 group homes that support 15 of our members. For each of those individuals, a unique plan is created to help them refine and improve their living skills to foster a greater sense of independence. The goal is to teach our members ways they can adapt and do things for themselves whenever possible.
One of our fastest growing programs is in-home services, which helped 36 individuals or families in 2023. These services not only help individuals who need assistance, but also offer much-needed respite to family members from their daily caretaking duties.
TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT
We see our training and employment services as a continuum from an educational setting to a workplace environment. Our members can enter into that flow at whatever point they feel most comfortable and we help them along their journey.
In 2023, we had 53 students in our adult day program (formerly known as QC Learning), and just over half of them progressed to our pathways to employment and employment services programs. There they learned skills to help them gain and keep employment.
We trained 130 workers with disabilities or other barriers to employment in the past year, 10 of whom were placed into new jobs in the community.
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE PROGRAMS
Quality Connections has two social enterprise programs where we train and employ members. One is our office supply company, QC Office, where 75% of the labor force is made up of workers with disabilities. QC Office has 698 local business customers.
It also features a robust environmental program, which recycled 29,349 pounds of electronic waste in 2023.
Meanwhile, Evergreen Academy Preschool, is providing high-quality childcare to our community, with more than 110 children served.
The preschool has seven member trainees who are fulfilling their goal of working with children professionally while being mentored by EAP staff.
Quality Connections began in 1999 as our founders looked for a way to help a friend with Cerebral Palsy overcome barriers to employment and lead a fuller, more self-sufficient life. Since then, we assisted more than 2,700 people with physical and developmental disabilities on their journeys to greater independence.
Learn more about our 2023 Community Impact Report here.