Starting a day center for adults with special needs

Hi Ksenia,

I want to start off by commending you for having such a socially impactful aspiration - this is a TERRIFIC idea. I think majoring in Business Entrepreneurship and getting a minor in psychology is great. A critical part of achieving your goal though, will be to speak to people who have already succeeded at doing something similar. I recommend visiting bestbuddies.org and look into different ways you can volunteer to learn more about what it takes to start your own venture. I wish I had more expertise in this subject to share with you, because I so admire your aspiration. My biggest piece of advice is DO NOT GIVE UP.

Best of luck. Please don't hesitate to comment if you have any follow up questions for me!

There is definitely a lot of hard work involved with this, but also the potential for a lot of real, meaningful impact.

A few recommendations:
-reach out to your nearby school districts and try to work with special education teachers. Many of their students, depending on their needs, are the ones who may later transition to group homes or other living situations that involve some supportive care but also promote independence in living arrangements once they turn 22 (depending on the state). Those teachers, especially the ones in the high schools (along with their paraprofessionals, PT's, OT's and speech pathologists) will likely know of other group homes/facilities in your region that help to serve this specific population. Becoming a strategic partner is incredibly important here. Learning about IEP's (Individualized Education Plans) is also something that I think you will find relevant.

-Research Special Olympics for potential other contacts, especially in terms of corporate sponsorships.

-Easter Seals is another organization to check out and possibly take on an internship with. I was fortunate in that I also had the opportunity to partner with individuals from this organization, and they're worth checking out.

-Although not as well-advertised, there are certain corporations, either via their explicit mission statement or just as a general part of doing business, that provide meaningful, gainful employment and autonomy options that help to serve this particular population. I was incredibly fortunate in that one of my past work experiences directly involved this specific support services division work and the amount of pride in serving as a valued partner and the loyalty my colleagues had for that particular employer was unlike anything I had ever seen before and since then. They were incredible champions of the work that they did, and it wasn't just about the concept of providing meaningful positive work contributions, but it also just happened to be good business on many levels.

You will probably have to work harder to do some research on other entities like this since they tend not to be well-publicized, but chances are, some of those stakeholders I previously mentioned in secondary schools may know of some of those types of employers in your region who are engaged in this type of work. If there aren't any, this is a niche where there is a real value proposition that you can offer to help to develop that talent resource channel.

-Transportation will likely become incredibly important. Make sure you spend time thinking about the logistics of that since it'll likely make or break your program, in particular, if you are in a rural area. Depending on where you live, there may be some publicly funded subsidized transportation options that might be applicable to the population you are trying to serve.

There are likely regulations that you need to look into regarding a day center; I would check both with senior care facilities in your region as well as daycare, although it most likely varies. ADA-compliance would be incredibly important, and if you were to pick a more relevant minor, disability studies (if offered), would be highly relevant. Boston University's School of Education does have that as an option. That can be a separate certification with teachers that often makes them highly marketable, so it's something to consider.

If your college offers it, ASL (American Sign Language) might also be something to consider minoring in. For future reference, Boston University's Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences was in the process of developing a visual ASL dictionary database to help bridge the gap between signers & non-signers, so that may be something worth looking into.

One thing I would encourage you to think about would be the concept of reimbursement and how you can sustain self-sufficiency to allow your program to operate. Figuring out who pays, how much, & in what ways will matter a great deal. Being aware and mindful of family structures and social constraints & barriers to entry and participation will also matter a great deal when you're looking at adoption and likelihood for such an intervention to succeed. Conducting a needs assessment with individuals & family members will help you gain insight into what the current challenges are in your region so you then can start to brainstorm possible solutions.

Also, spending time to think about whether or not you want to be a for-profit or non-profit entity will matter. In particular, if you decide to go the non-profit route, having a humanities minor where you're actively working to further develop your concise storytelling skills will matter, in particular, when you're looking to position your organization for specific grants. Grants are incredibly competitive and there is often an incredibly strategic process that you need to undertake to gain a successful award past the pilot phase. Taking advantage of any opportunities to volunteer with nonprofits in a grant-writing capacity while you're in school likely will help familiarize you with this particular area and will likely help put you in a better position to fundraise & run capital campaigns later on. There are also programs at universities that are specifically focused on nonprofits as well as community development (University of DE, where I went to school, is one of them, but there are others).

As a social entrepreneur, you might want to check out social venture programs. Northeastern University in particular seems to have a pretty well-developed program. I recently met Sara Minard and you might want to check out her work & suggestions.

One thing I would encourage you to think strategically about is whether or not there are more opportunities you can offer other than just social interaction in your proposed idea. While it depends on the degree of physical &/or cognitive challenge, I can definitely say from first-hand experience that there is real potential here.

Perhaps your organization could help provide meaningful introductions to employers/internships for the population that you would like to help serve. Sometimes it can be as simple as reaching out to a potential employer and bringing them an opportunity that perhaps they hadn't thought about since this might be an adjacency and not part of their primary business plan. There are many entities that would like to give back to their communities via resources (be they volunteers, time, talent, funding, etc.), but they may not know how. The great part about this is that it's only limited to your imagination & then constrained by logistics execution. Doing whatever you can to become an out-of-the-box thinker will likely serve you well here.

Try and take a look at small businesses in your area who are already invested in their communities (ex: go to a little league game or a high school football game and look at the sponsors of teams who often help fund the teams in exchange for advertising on their shirts; those are businesses that have already demonstrated a commitment to giving back to their communities and who might already be primed & receptive to your proposed social enterprise), and as for larger corporations, take a look on linkedin for those who are working in "corporate social responsibility," since they might help to bridge that gap. Developing those relationships & partnerships in your community would likely be a very real & tangible asset that would have the ability to impact many lives in a meaningful way, not just with the larger community, but most importantly, with those individuals that you'd be helping to directly serve as well as their families. If you are in the Boston area, Boston University's Community Service Center has an incredibly well-developed resource binder that might help guide you to other relevant introductions, not just regionally, but also on a national-level when it comes to potential partners in this disabilities issue area space.

Make sure that you take time to clarify who your primary and secondary target populations are that you'd like to serve. While it's great that you want to serve families of adults with special needs, it is just as, if not even more so important, that you make sure that you're also serving the needs of the individuals who are directly enrolled in your program since they are the ones whose lives will be most impacted by your intervention. Talking one-on-one via interviews or focus groups about what they want & what they are looking for matters a great deal and if at all possible, you should make sure to do your absolute best to make sure that their direct needs are kept in mind during every step of the process. Doing so will also help to demonstrate and make a more compelling argument when you approach potential partners and investors that you are well-versed and familiar with the unique challenges facing this specific population and why the program you are offering should receive funding & in-kind support.

Setting up regular feedback systems along the way so that you can responsively adjust your program accordingly will also matter. Something to keep in mind is that even at an early age, many --- although not all --- children are able to demonstrate preferences for certain choices and the same goes for adults in senior care assisted living facilities. While the spectrum of challenge may vary considerably from person to person here, it is highly likely that preferences still exist. Doing your best to offer and then honor those choices may help to preserve & offer some autonomy and value, which will incidentally also help your organization gain traction & buy-in, & it's important to try your best to integrate those options whenever possible & wherever appropriate.

You should minor in Social Worker. They are able to start programs.

I would definitely look into social work, or even nursing as a possible educational path, or look to collaborate with someone who has those strengths. A center like that sounds like a great addition to a community, but understanding some of the social and healthcare side of things might help as you're beginning the journey.

I'd also look into places that do similar services- find out their history, meet with their directors, and learn from that. Soak up all the knowledge and information you can from those relationships- volunteer, ask questions, get yourself involved in how a facility like that might run.

Also, even at the earliest stages, always be looking into information on grants, funding, government support, and other ways you could get a facility like that up and running.