What is Cortney's Place?
Since 2007, Cortney’s Place has provided a uniquely individualized and exceptionally engaging day program for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD). Everything we do, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm is meaningful, intentional, and designed to help our students live their lives with a little more independence, a lot more self-esteem, and a lifetime of joyful memories.
In fact, our daily-changing curriculum is intended to enhance students' lives with an itinerary full of extraordinary experiences - each planned with a specific purpose. From Weird Science experiments, to Karaoke, Yoga, ASMR, Theater, and Pen Pals, we offer fun, high-quality activity options that allow students to practice both hard and soft life skills in the most engaging and enjoyable ways.
Some of our students' favorite things to do are those that provide the opportunity for them to be in the community. That's why many of our activities happen outside our building. This includes going to the local library to choose stories for Book Club, visiting a pumpkin patch, or making a fun Friday trip to Great Arizona Puppet Theater.
What's more, we give their parents/guardians peace of mind that their loved ones are given individualized care and supervision in a secure, supportive, and interactive setting.
Your donations help us enrich lives - one extraordinary experience at a time.
How is Cortney's Place different?
According to the National Developmental Disabilities Service, people with physical and mental disabilities thrive when they receive individualized attention, opportunities to be active outside their homes, socialization with peers, and a stimulating environment that allows them to reach their maximum potential. We find creative solutions to ensure all of these needs are met and exceeded.
We provide all of these and more.
- Our building is clean, bright, modern, and tech-forward.
- Our staff is caring, and committed to purposeful, customized care with an intense focus on improving lives in ways that have a lasting impact.
- Our program is intensely focused on improving students' self-esteem and sense of independence. It includes music & movement, hydrotherapy, art classes, pet therapy, STEM activities, fitness, and self-advocacy.
- Our organization is run by a creative, caring, and resourceful team.
Our Skill Stacking approach is engineered to maximize students’ life skills by combining them into a single, integrated program. One example is healthy meal planning, shopping, and preparation. Each week, a rotating group of students collaboratively create a meal plan for the coming week. They then make a community outing to the grocery store for needed ingredients, and then they assist with the preparation of the dishes on their plan. This allows these students to simultaneously practice soft skills (like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving), and hard skills, (like using an iPad, shopping, and measuring ingredients). It also allows them to be active and integrated into the community and among their peers.
Your donations help us to run a program that far exceeds what’s required.
What specific problem does our program address?
Our students are unable to care for themselves if left alone during the day, so having the advantages that come with Cortney's Place is a tremendous benefit for their guardians, who are most often their parents.
- Without Cortney's Place, our students' guardians/parents, would be unable to work outside the home and would have much less time to attend to their own needs, as wells as those of other family members.
- Without Cortney's Place, our students would be less likely to be physically active, which maintains both their physical and mental health. It also gives them a chance to improve their hand-eye coordination, flexibility, and spatial relations.
- Without Cortney's Place, our students would be less cognitively engaged, which is important to help improve focus, memory, and cognitive function.
- Our students wish to remain involved in the community and enjoy social settings, but they also need help in caring for themselves. They need the supervision, planning, and care that is provided by Cortney's Place.
Your donations greatly enhance the quality of life for our students - and their families.
How does Cortney's Place fit into the big picture?
We directly address three of our nation's current goals for social and community health: (1) Reduce the proportion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in institutional settings with 7 or more people, (2) Reduce anxiety and depression in family caregivers of people with disabilities, and (3) Reduce the proportion of adults with disabilities who experience serious psychological distress.
Your donations help our country achieve its national health goals.
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