About Empower Cherokee
At Empower Cherokee, we are about more than just the people we support. We are also about empowering our local community to find enrichment opportunities through a variety of programs and initiatives. Our organization is dedicated to providing support and resources to individuals and families in need. We strive to make a positive impact by offering educational, health, and social services that contribute to the overall well-being of our community. Our commitment to transparency and accountability is reflected in our financial statements and certification registry, which are available for public review.
Our Services
Residential Living
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Homes are designed to support 4 individuals
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Each Individual has their own bedroom.
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A staff is scheduled to be in the home at all times to help the individuals live their own life.
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All supports are based around what the individual needs to live successfully in their own home. If that is help with cooking, cleaning, laundry, transportation, etc.
Employment
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Individual and Group Services
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Focus on obtaining and maintaining community employment
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Placement in local businesses
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Job Coaching based on the unique needs of each person supported
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Assistance with transportation (limited)
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Skill-building related to each unique job obtained
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Support in other life areas while on the job as needed
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Person Centered approach to service delivery
Community Access
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Individual and Group Services
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Expand life skills
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Enhance relationships and communication
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Individualized services are exclusively community based
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Assistance with daily living support needs
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Customized services based on preference
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Person centered approach to service delivery
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Focus on developing social capital
Community Access Group
Services are provided in the community or at Empower Cherokee. Services are individually determined and planned using person-centered tools and approaches to discover the individual’s interests, gifts, choices, and what is important to and for the individual. We learn about and listen to the individual, their support needs, health and safety, and their dreams and desires. Their individual plan is created around this foundation. Community Access services are provided outside the individual’s place of residence. These services can occur during the day, the evenings, and weekends. Services include design of activities and environments for the participant to learn and/or use adaptive skills required for active community participation and independent functioning. These activities include training in socialization skills as well as personal assistance as indicated in the Individual Service Plan (ISP). Community Access services cannot be provided in the participant’s home or family home, personal care home, community living arrangement, or group home.
Community Access Individual
Services are provided to an individual participant, with a one-to-one staff to
participant ratio. CAI services are directly linked to goals and expectations of improvement in skills. The intended outcome of CAI services is to improve the participant’s access to the community through increased skills, increased natural supports, and/or less paid supports. CAI services are designed to be teaching and coaching in nature. These services assist the participant in acquiring, retaining, or improving socialization and networking, independent use of community resources, and adaptive skills required for active community participation outside the participant’s place of residence. CAI services may include programming to reduce inappropriate and/or maladaptive behaviors. CAI services are not facility-based.
CRA
Services are provided in a licensed community living arrangement, 24 hours/7days per week and target individuals who require intense levels of support. Services are provided in daily and weekly routines that directly relate to each individual’s interests, choices and preferences; and will accommodate fluctuations in his/her needs for various supports. Assistance with and/or training activities of daily living skills such as bathing, grooming, other personal hygiene, feeding, toileting and similar tasks; household care such as meal preparation and supervision of nutrition, clothes laundering, bed- making, house cleaning and other similar tasks.Services also include medically related activities such as arranging medical appointments, basic first aid, supervising self-administration of medication, and assisting with therapeutic exercises.
These services also consist of implementing behavioral support plans designed for individuals to reduce inappropriate and/or maladaptive behaviors; the ability to intervene if a crisis arises. Transportation is provided to medical appointments, other waiver services and as needed to facilitate the individual’s participation in community activities and personal shopping. EC ensures the capacity to support individuals through client/staff ratios (1:4 or as designated in the ISP) that reflect the needs of the individuals; professionals with experience in developmental disabilities that can address the needs of the individuals served; program flexibility to accommodate individual and family needs; and provides on-going training of both staff and individuals served.
Supported Employment
Services provide supports that assist individuals with disabilities with planning their career goals by discovering their personal interests, gifts, and strengths. We help them find employment, which includes job development through activities such as interview preparation, filling out applications, resume building, and networking. Once employed, EC provides job coaching, training and support for the person to maintain successful employment. Or self-employment through the operation of a business, including helping identify potential business opportunities, assisting in the development of a business plan, identifying the supports that are necessary for them to operate a business, and ongoing assistance, counseling and guidance once the business has been launched.