WESTCHESTER, N.Y. - A new partnership between two agencies that serve folks with intellectual, developmental, and other challenges aims to expand services and opportunities for their clients.
Banding together are nonprofits Opengate Inc., which is headquartered in Armonk but supports communities throughout the lower Hudson Valley including Somers, and CAREERS Support Solutions, which operates throughout Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties.
Opengate offers vocational training, therapeutic programs, recreation, social outlets, and skills training in everything from money management to cooking.
Its mission to promote “personal growth and community integration in a compassionate environment.”
CAREERS Executive Director Tina Cornish-Lauria and Opengate CEO Christopher Laubis announced the merger in November.
After the merger got the green light from the office of New York Attorney General Leitia James, joint operations began in early December.
It reflects, they said, “both organizations' shared mission to empower people with disabilities to live their best lives through compassionate care, meaningful support, and opportunities to thrive to the fullest extent of their abilities.”
Connections Count
Lifelong Somers resident Lauren Enea, who’d been president of CAREERS’s board of directors, said the merger grew from a “natural and organic connection” between the organizations.
Enea is an elder law attorney who also works with disabled folks and their families – a community she said is “near and dear” to her heart.
She’s now a member of the newly merged board, which will start meeting in January.
The smaller of the two, CAREERS was established in 1987 by a group of parents hoping to help their disabled adult children find meaningful employment.
Opengate was founded in 1969 by Edith Gray and Karla Lissauer, who also had adult children with intellectual and development disabilities.
Knowing that an institutional setting wasn’t the way for them to achieve fulfilling lives, the two pioneers overcame bureaucratic and funding obstacles to support their vision.
Starting off with only two houses and a handful of people, Opengate has evolved into a network of day programs and 12 residences, six of which are located in Somers; the rest are in Yorktown, Mohegan Lake, Ossining, and Pleasantville.
At present, it supports about 150 people who’ve transitioned from home or aged out of school programs. Some have been with Opengate since its founding.
The merger is a “win-win” for both organizations, Laubis and Enea agree.
“It will open doors and opportunities for CAREERS, and give it the financial support that will allow it to do more than it already does for its clients,” Enea told Halston Media.
For its part, Opengate will gain access to CAREERS’s vocational expertise and experience.
Having greater personal “autonomy” and the chance to give back can be a life-changing experience for someone with limited job opportunities, she added.
According to Laubis, who grew up in Lincolndale and still lives in the Somers hamlet, the merger was crafted “with as little change to either system as possible.”
That was in light of the fact that both nonprofits have been doing very well for decades and decades.
“We just want them (CAREERS) to continue doing what they’re doing,” he explained, adding: “It will be a good match.”
The whole thing seems like “kismet” to Cornish-Lauria, who lives in nearby Carmel.
With CAREERS for 36 years now – and with a small staff with an equally impressive record of longevity -- she had worked for Opengate from 1985 to 1989.
In fact, it was Laubis who took over for her there when she left.
After working as a classroom teacher, sheltered workshop manager, and assistant residential director, Laubis left Opengate in 2001 but stayed in the field.
He eventually returned to Opengate as its CEO.
While scrolling around LinkedIn one day, Cornish-Laurie noticed Laubis's new title and called to congratulate him.
Laubis suggested that they meet for lunch, where they caught up on the state of things.
Part of that conversation revolved around the challenges faced by many small nonprofits with strictly vocational focuses.
“They just can’t survive on their own anymore. To flourish, they need to have the support of a much larger organization,” Cornish-Laurie explained.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Joining forces with Opengate will “provide the financial and organization foundation needed to sustain and expand the vital services we provide well into the future,” she said in a joint statement last month.
Smooth Transition
No staff member was displaced and no jobs were eliminated because of the change.
All CAREERS employees transitioned to Opengate and both leadership teams collaborated to “ensure a smooth integration and uninterrupted delivery of services to clients,” the nonprofits said.
The merger also opens up more career paths for staff.
For instance, folks who have worked on the residential side could now explore positions in client job support and development.
Opengate’s strengths include certified residential placements, day habilitation aka WOW, or Without Walls, program, certified day habilitation, community habilitation, respite, supported employment, vocational training, and pre-vocational services.
CAREERS also helps folks with learning, psychiatric and/or physical disabilities find and keep jobs. Its newest program assists seniors -- with or without disabilities -- do the same.
Each partner can now tap into each other’s resources.
“By combining our strengths, we’re ensuring that the adults we both support continue to receive the highest quality programs and stability they deserve,” Laubis said.
For more information, visit: www.CAREERSSupportSolutions.org and www.opengateinc.org.
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