Stories
Orchard Village Academy helps young adults with disabilities transition from high school to competitive jobs, college enrollment, and more independent lives. Recent Orchard Academy graduate Michelle first came to the Academy ...
Read More >Reed recently came to Orchard Village during the pandemic. Despite the challenges of her timing, she has grown a lot and been such a positive light to her friends and program staff. Reed benefits from multiple Orchard Village services, but ...
Read More >Matthew's been a student at Orchard Academy for three years after being referred by his high school. Since his first day, he has interned at various job sites, including Marshall's, Cici's Pizza, the Niles Food Pantry, and Walgreen's, ...
Read More >Shawn is one of our residents whom we assisted in finding and maintaining the "favorite job that he's had so far" at a local pizza restaurant, where he has worked for two years. Shawn enjoys being a cashier and interacting with customers. He ...
Read More >Wendy started at InnOVations during the pandemic because she was unhappy with her previous day program's offerings. At InnOVations, Wendy immediately took to our Abilities in Motion activities like Movement Club, Adaptive Yoga, and ...
Read More >Denise P., a newer client at Orchard Village, has been working at Jewel-Osco for over four months now with the help of our vocational team. She is employed as a service clerk at Jewel, helping to put carts away and bag groceries for customers. ...
Read More >Avis, 21, started attending InnOVations, Orchard Village's non-traditional and employment preparation focused day program for adults with developmental disabilities, in April of 2018. His goal? A job in the community! Nancy ...
Read More >Semayah, a resident of Lowell house and Orchard Village since 2016, has made great strides in reaching her goals. Lowell house is one of Orchard Village's 10 residential homes. Residential homes, also known as CILAs (Community ...
Read More >Harrison works at Panino’s Pizzeria in Evanston and is currently living in his own apartment in Skokie, but he didn’t always. Harrison started out in 24-hour supervised living at Orchard Village with the goal of his own apartment and ...
Read More >Stanley is celebrating his 18th year of working at Jewel! Stanley started working for Jewel in 2000 in Wood Dale, Illinois. One year later, he transferred to the Jewel at Village Crossing in Skokie and has worked there ever since. ...
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