Achieve CEO Amy Howard giving Congressman Marc Molinaro a tour of their new facility, located at 96-100 East Main Street in Norwich. The facility was under renovation for the past year, and was completed in early 2024, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for April. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH — Achieve didn’t wait for someone else to shape their future; they went out and built it themselves.

Achieve is a nonprofit organization that provides skill advancement, inclusion, independence, and socialization to more than 2,200 individuals with developmental and other disabilities in Broome, Chenango, and Tioga Counties.

In March of 2023, the organization broke ground on the approximately $4.6 million project that would transform an empty warehouse into a 24,000 square-foot facility.

A year of transformation

The Norwich Achieve facility has always been located outside of city limits on Country Club Road. However, in recent years the building has been in need of several costly repairs and accessibility features.

Achieve also owns several buildings in Norwich, one of which was a subsidiary manufacturing facility known as CWS Plant 5, located at 96-100 East Main Street in Norwich. The facility closed its doors in late 2021, and since then Achieve Vice President of Development and Relations Preston Evans said the facility has been mostly vacant.

In an effort to utilize the space, improve programming, and further integrate with the community, Achieve’s Board of Directors voted in February 2023 to move their day habilitation facility from their current location down to the former CWS plant.

A ground breaking ceremony for the “New Beginnings in Norwich” project was held in March to mark the start of the project that would transform the former plant into a sprawling facility with several rooms and spaces to aid Achieve in providing day services, skills and job training, community integration, and more.

“Today’s ground breaking is a culmination of over a year of work to repurpose CWS Packaging, and relocate our services to this downtown Norwich area, raising the agency’s visibility, providing greater opportunities for you to work and participate in your community,” said Achieve Board of Directors President David Chambers during the ceremony. “There are exciting things on the horizon for this community, and there are opportunities associated with this project that will only continue to increase Achieve’s presence in active ways.”

Evans said the downtown location is a major benefit, as it makes Achieve and their available services both more accessible and more integrated with the community.

“A big push both by the state, but also just in terms of our organization, is community integration and really being out and seen in the community, whether that’s through employment, or volunteer opportunities, shopping, getting meals, whatever that might be,” said Evans. “You can’t break stigma without being out there and raising awareness. That’s the best way to do this.”

He said the Main Street facility is also located on the Chenango First Transit line, which opens up transportation options for individuals utilizing Achieve’s services, as well as potential employees.

“This could be a barrier there for some people who don’t drive, to either work for us or to receive services. So by having this on the transit line, we also open up employee retention and recruitment opportunities in there as well,” he said.

In less than a year, Achieve was able to complete the remodel, and the organization is now working to furnish the building and create an occupancy transition plan.

“So in-house we’re developing our transition plan, our occupancy plans, if you will. So getting all the furnishing, a big order for the furnishing went in,” said Achieve CEO Amy Howard. “We’re getting all the program spaces all kind of ready with regard to how they’ll be used, and the activities, and put together a time table. We’ve got the state in to certify the program, and we had actually several members of the fire department in two weeks ago I think to do a walk through and get acclimated and acquainted with the building.”

A ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the project will be held on Thursday, April 25. Howard said the ceremony will be open to the public.

“We have a lot of community supporters, businesses and individual donors, who have taken an interest and contributed to the project,” she said. “We certainly want to continue to be friendly with the neighbors, so when you think of the residential houses on Griffin Street in particular, we would definitely want them to come in if they’re interested in attending that event.”

The newly remodeled facility features a litany of rooms and spaces where Achieve can continue to provide the great services and supports they always have, while also implementing plenty of new ones.

Facility features

Although there were office spaces in the front of the building Achieve opted to keep, the rest of the space was a blank canvas for the organization to build exactly what they needed.

Howard said a goal when they were designing the space was the keep areas open and bright, which creates a more inviting atmosphere.

“We built them light and bright, and where you would want to be or have your loved one want to be if he or she were receiving support from the agency,” she said.

Evans said Achieve’s day habilitation program is the primary program that will reap the benefits of the new facility. The remodel included nine “core rooms,” which are similar to classrooms, to be used for a variety of programming for the day hab program.

Howard said the rooms will be activity-based, with a concept associated to each one, such as art or theatre. In fact, Achieve will be hosting an art show on Valentine’s Day, February 14, in one of their core rooms.

Achieve also hopes to expand their respite program to the East Main Street location as well, which would both give caregivers a break, as well as further integrate Achieve with the community.

“We have the model already in place down here in Broome County. We want to bring it up there and launch that as new programming as well,” Evans explained. “The real goal there, if the respite program launches, is to make it available for non-disabled adults as well. So again, furthering that community integration.”

Howard also emphasized the organization’s focus on workforce training and occupational preparation for individuals with disabilities, which they will help foster through the construction of kitchens for a culinary arts program, and a cafe that will be open to the public.

“We are looking forward to giving people the opportunity in the day hab programming as well to kind of explore and practice vocational skills so that they can discover what it is that they want to move on to,” said Achieve Vice President of Community Based Services Catina Sutton. “Our dream is to educate them on what it is to be employed. Some of them don’t know that they have that option or that we do customized employment.”

During a tour of the facility in December, Congressman Marc Molinaro said the kitchens and training opportunities wouldn’t just prepare individuals for the workforce, but also teach them valuable life skills that will help them live independently.

“A lot of individuals with intellectual, physical, and developmental disabilities don’t have repetitive or even the access to some of these skills at home or, sadly, through school,” he said. “Even to live with support in a residence, they may not know how to do laundry or don’t repeat it often enough to do it.”

“These are life skills that they just don’t get otherwise.”

Howard said they will also be working with local employers to determine workforce needs and find employment opportunities.

“This site also provides opportunities for the future. By partnering with local businesses and other entrepreneurs for employment opportunities, we’re going to be able to assess needs, explore training options, and support these wonderful individuals that we serve to find their next best employment opportunity in the community, and employers [and] businesses to find their next best employee,” she said.

One of the larger features of the new facility is the approximately 2,500 square foot, 200-capacity community center, which will be open for public use.

“This is a community center that we have built in here that’s going to be open to all the community to use. We’ve looked at individuals, people who are disabled and non-disabled, to work at it and be able to invite the community in, serve food, all that kind of thing,” said Howard. “So Rotary, community groups, NBT Bank if they need a meeting space, whoever. They can come in, we’ll have this social area out here.”

“It’s really a building that’s intended to support and serve the individuals in our programs, but it’s also intended to be used by the community. We want to be an inclusive environment, people with disabilities and people without disabilities that are using the facility.”

Also included in the building remodel was a Hoyer Lift system, which will assist with moving visitors with mobility or ambulatory issues to different rooms; a nursing station; and a clinical services space.

Community partnership

With community integration as one of Achieve’s goals with the new space, it’s no surprise they’ve utilized partnerships with other organizations to learn about the area’s needs and develop potential programs and services to better fit the needs of the community.

Two major goals for Achieve and community leaders is to add a senior center and daycare center to the facility in the future.

“If the seniors need help, there’s no place for them,” said Commerce Chenango President and CEO Sal Testani. “There’s no place for them to go to socialize and interact.”

The Place Executive Director Sharon Vesely shared the need for daycare services in the county, and the impact a daycare center at the new Achieve facility could have. She said the center they have planned could care for up to 56 children and employ 10 to 17 staff members.

In addition to the daycare center, Howard and Vesely would also like to construct an inclusive playground for children with and without disabilities.

“We want the playground area for the children in the daycare to be an inclusive playground for children with disabilities and without disabilities,” said Howard. “Ideally we could have a few slots for children with disabilities for after-school services.”

Achieve already has shovel-ready plans for the center, and 5,000 square feet of the building reserved, but need an estimated $2.1 million for the center and an additional $100,000 for the playground. Howard said it will be up to The Place to come up with funding for the childcare center, but she’s confident it will be accomplished.

“I’m optimistic that one way or another we’re going to place some expanded childcare into the building as well,” she said. “We’re very committed to doing our part to give back to the community, and I’m really hoping that we’ll be able to get that project off the ground and help The Place be able to expand their services.”

While these additions will be in the future, Achieve is ready now to begin making a difference in the lives of those with developmental disabilities and their families. Howard said the project would not have been possible without the tremendous amount of support from the community.

Not only has Achieve partnered with local organizations such as The Place and Commerce Chenango to explore programs and resources, they were also able to complete the $4.6 million project without any financing thanks to community supporters.

The organization has utilized reserves from previous property sales and grant funding from national foundations, such as the Mother Cabrini Foundation, to pay for a portion of the project, and they’re currently waiting to hear back on a $250,000 grant request from the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).

However, much of project was also covered by grant support and donations from local organizations. Supporters included the Higley Foundation, the Mirabito Foundation, the RC Smith Foundation, NBT Bank, Mirabito Energy, NYCM Insurance, Golden Artist Colors, and many more. The Achieve Foundation also contributed $500,000 to the project.

“The list goes on and on of corporations and businesses from the community that have stood behind this project,” said Howard.

“I think that’s the amazing aspect of this story,” she added. “The whole community has come together to partner with Achieve, this nonprofit, to be able to grow and expand supports and services for individuals with disabilities, but also to expand opportunities for neurotypical community members, for the broader community. I think that is just a beautiful story.”

For more information on Achieve, visit AchieveNY.org or the ACHIEVE Facebook page.