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Community Involvement Services, a division of the Michael Dunn Center, emphasizes the need for people with disabilities to be fully involved in the community in which they live. The goal of this program is to assist people with disabilities in working, training, recreating, and living in the community.
At MDC, we know that individuals can only be as successful as the community allows them to be. We also know that people can best learn through actual experiences rather than through simulated ones. Our Community Involvement staff members serve as mediators between the individual and the community, helping each individual and the community, helping each individual to balance a need for self preservation and care within existing social networks in the community. Independence is not the optional element needed to enjoy inclusion in the community, because no one is fully self-reliant. As our society becomes increasingly specialized, it is indeed appropriate to depend on others for assistance. Our various Community Involvement programs help people succeed through interdependence in their own, and other communities. The Community Involvement programs do not force individuals to address and master their limitations. Instead, these programs use external forces, such as technologies and personnel, to complement what each individual may or may not be able to do. Community involvement is critical to enhancing each individual's ability to develop relationships and to maximize competence.
