BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Each month, “WBZ Cares” highlights a worthy non-profit organization and tells the story of what that organization does for the community. This month WBZ is profiling Cape Abilities, a non-profit organization that serves individuals with disabilities on Cape Cod by educating, counseling and providing residential, therapeutic, social and employment supports that empower them to achieve meaningful and valued roles in the community.
CapeAbilities empowers individuals with disabilities on Cape Cod to achieve more meaningful and valued roles in the community.
A few of the many ways it does that is through vocational, behavioral, and general life skills training.
“In the day programs I serve maybe 80-90 people in the Hyannis program and then in the Eastham program we have maybe 30 people from ages 22 to 70-something with every disability from very high need to very low need,” outlined day programs administrator Josephine Fennell.
Josephine Fennell is the day programs administrator.
“We have a gentleman who drives a car here and then, you know, we have some people that need one-on-one care, so it’s a very diverse population. They leave with life skills. They can see that maybe I will get an apartment or maybe I will get a job, or, you know, maybe I can have safe home alone time. Very simple things. We see that progress and they see it,” stated Fennell.
With all of their programs combined they serve more than 400 individuals. To do so, the non-profit relies heavily on donations and the help of volunteers.
“CapeAbilities started as a volunteer grass roots organization 50 years ago and, so, volunteerism has always been at the core of keeping CapeAbilities going,” said volunteer coordinator Moira Swiatkowski.
It’s Moira Swiatkowski’s job to coordinate those hundreds of volunteers.
“It is so mutually beneficial. We appreciate and count on them so much. They also get a lot out of it, especially the volunteers who are directly interacting with the individuals we serve. It’s really just such a great thing to see everybody working together which is what CapeAbilities is all about. Integrating our community with our individuals,” concluded Swiatkowski.
WBZ NewsRadio1030's Shari Small Reports