Pearl Buck Center

Community employment - comprehensive, personalized employment services empowering adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to determine career goals, acquire training, secure, and retain quality, competitive employment in the community. Businesses are active partners, participating without subsidies, and program participants experience total immersion in the workplace. The organization provides job coaches as needed on-site for support and coordination.

Pearl Buck preschool - wraparound, tuition-free program for families led by parents with cognitive challenges. Most of their children are born without disabilities, but are at high risk for acquired disabilities, abuse, and neglect. The organization offers a unique, year-round program of specialized preschool for children ages two to five years and parenting education and case management/outreach for eligible families whose children are zero to five years of age.

Supported living program - in-home and community assistance with the tasks of daily living that support adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live in the community as independently and safely as possible. This includes such activities as support in purchasing goods and services, including health related needs.

Project search - this nationally acclaimed nine-month internship program provides employability training and education for individuals with cognitive disabilities. The program occurs in partnership with a business which has the commitment to support people with disabilities in the workplace. These internships are 5 days a week for 9 months and include work hours and classroom training. Instructors are on site the entire length of the program. Life enhancing activities program (leap) - a day program of community inclusion, educational experiences, and meaningful activities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program allows participants to achieve their individual goals, learn new skills, and develop peer relationships. Family support - raising a family is challenging under the best circumstances. In addition to our preschool program, we use a home-based approach to help parents with cognitive challenges develop their skills in all areas of parenting. We support parents with cognitive challenges to build self-esteem and resilience so they can continue to succeed after they leave our program. Parental resilience has been shown to decrease child abuse and neglect. Pearl Buck vocational academy - this program features workplace skills, which emphasize the key elements of being a good employee for all vocational opportunities, life skills, self-care practices, or other enrichment topics as needed to build student success. Students in the academy also participate in specialized program instruction in functional academics, such as reading/writing and math skills. All programs of study include learning labs and enrichment activities. All students create a portfolio to outline their accomplishments and to provide information on what they would need to be successful in integrated community employment. Each has the opportunity to work in a local for-profit business that provides wages and structured work.