Diversified Opportunities, Inc.
Diversified Opportunities, Inc. – In the early 70’s several local families came together to advocate for a day activities center to be located in Wilson for their sons and daughters to attend during the day that would provide a safe and stimulating environment for their children while they were at work. In 1975, Diversified Opportunities opened its doors with a staff of 4 providing day activities to 30 people with developmental disabilities. Through perseverance and the ongoing generous support of our community, today DOI serves over 250 people annually in Wilson and surrounding counties, ages 16 to 88, with intellectual and developmental disabilities including autism and traumatic brain injury, as well as those with physical, mental health, and substance use disabilities.
DOI offers a comprehensive array of services designed to allow individuals to fully participate in their community on a path they help design. There are programs that:
support our youth as they transition from school to pre-vocational training to employment
support job seekers with securing employment and providing on-the-job supports to secure job retention and advancement
support those with more severe needs that may choose to participate in DOI’s day activity center that offers life skills training, arts and crafts, and healthy living practices through diet and exercise
Since almost its inception, Diversified has partnered with area businesses and industries to provide paid work training opportunities to its participants. DOI offers businesses the option of bringing their production needs under DOI’s roof or providing a labor force onsite. Some of the services DOI offers include small parts assembly, sorting, kitting, packaging, inspecting, and bulk mailing. Each job offers DOI participants the opportunity to learn transferable work skills and earn a paycheck to promote independence.
This past year DOI placed 67 of its participants into employment in our community with wages ranging from $7.25 to $15.50! Many of the job placements were for 40 hours weekly and included all the benefits that traditionally go along with full-time employment. The job placements were in a variety of positions including sales, production, office and administrative support, industrial cleaning and maintenance, food services, and personal care.
As with every growing business, DOI’s team is always looking for ways to enhance its service provision capability. While COVID-19 has certainly brought many new challenges, it also brought new opportunities for DOI to begin providing a blend of live and remote services to its day program participants. DOI now offers a daily Zoom opportunity for several participants that have chosen to remain at home due to their compromised health conditions. With the inclusion of several large screens, projectors, speakers, and iPads, DOI’s homebound participants are now able to join in a variety of daily activities with their peers, staff, and many guests from our community who offer programming activities.