ENFIELD — Allied Community Programs, a nonprofit organization that is a subsidiary of Allied Community Services, located at 3 Pearson Way in Enfield, celebrated its 60th anniversary this year.
Allied Community Programs provides services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to live and enjoy a productive, independent and fulfilling life. The organization started at someone’s house to provide activities for their children and is now an agency that is very well-known within the state, at the state of Connecticut Department and Developmental Services.
Executive Director Beth Suleski said, “It’s pretty amazing. I’ve been with the company for 11 years and have seen a lot of growth come through here. It is very exciting to have been around for quite a while.”
She continued, “We have some individuals that have been with us for well over 30 years and we have some individuals that have just come into our programs within the last year. It is very satisfying to see a lot of our individuals have seen support for a long time.”
Suleski was looking to go into elder care and ended up landing a part-time job as an administrative assistant at Allied Community Programs. Within three months, she went full-time as a coordinator and moved up the ladder to the executive position.
“I fell in love with the people, the organization itself and the commitment that everyone has to our individuals,” Suleski said. “It ended being exactly what I was looking for.”
Allied Community Programs run five group homes as well as running in-home support programs that provide services to individuals that live in their own homes or with families.
They have two employment services they run. One is a group supported program which provides training on vocational skills and allows individuals to work in groups out in the community and within their micro-businesses. The other is an independent supported program which provides support for individuals that have their own jobs in the community.
Allied Community Programs has a Day Supports program which provides therapeutic recreation and assisting individuals with their activities of daily living. They also run a sports program through the Special Olympics Connecticut, a recreation program, a transportation program providing transportation to and from their day program, as well as medical transportation for people out in the community.
Their current goal is to provide the best service they possibly can for their individuals and their future goals are always to grow and be able to provide different services as the world of intellectual and developmental disabilities grows and changes.
“Allied Community Programs have grown to be a stable environment for individuals,” Suleski shared. “To see how much our individuals have grown coming out of a school-based support into adult-based support is the most rewarding for me.”
She went on to say, “They come into my office chatting and telling me how their day went or what’s going on in their lives. They’re describing the exact same experiences that my child would describe. It’s amazing to know that we’re hitting that goal and allowing these individuals to have a typical life in their community.”
To learn more about Allied Community Programs, visit alliedgroup.org.
Their normal business hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Allied Community Programs can be contacted at 860-741-3701. For anyone looking for services, contact Referral Coordinator Karen Peabody at ext. 231, or Suleski at ext. 212.
