COMMUNITY MISSION

Dear Friends of Alternatives,

Alternatives Unlimited has always been about collaboration, not isolation, about what we share rather than what separates us. And what we all share, no matter who we are, is the desire for the three basic things that make life worth living: a real job, a real home and real relationships.

"Real" means something that is personally significant, and something that reflects society's sense of meaning and value.

Real jobs are not busy-work. Real jobs are not found in sheltered workshops. Real jobs are found in the free market of the local community.

Real homes are not made in institutions or "facilities." They are real places of warmth and joy in the neighborhoods of our communities.

And real relationships are not formed by the payment of one person to be a "friend," nor are they the automatic outcome of being with others who happen to share one's disability. Real relationships are formed and nurtured naturally in the community.

At Alternatives we are grateful for all the community has given us, and we are proud to say that we also have much to give back. The renovation of the Whitin Mill, for example, means the creation of a community treasure that will offer a wholly new paradigm in the integration of those with disabilities with their community. We are not merely converting a building. We are creating an open forum where people from all walks of life can work, learn and play.

I am sometimes asked why community building is so important to us at Alternatives. The answer is that Alternatives will only be as strong as the community around it, for only in that community do we find real solutions for people with disabilities-real jobs, real homes and real relationships.