CTA Community Support explains what Exploration is and how it's evolved over the years.
Chyanne King, with CTA, explains that it started as their answer to the federal Settings Rule, which ended sheltered workshops and segregated environments for people with disabilities.
Everything had to move into the community. Chyanne says they didn't have a model for that yet, so they were mentored by programs who were doing it successfully, and turned it into their first Exploration program.
She says that first version thrived... then COVID hit and getting people out into the community got hard.
By the time the stay-at-home restrictions ended, many people had gotten used to staying home.
So, in 2023, CTA rebuilt Exploration. Chyanee says, "We wanted people active in their communities again and feeling like they belonged there. We found grant funding to take individuals out one-on-one to do the things they genuinely love. Hiking, swimming, the toy store, the record store. Whatever that person lights up about, we funded it. "
Exploration now serves more than 130 people in the organization.
CTA Community Supports' Oni Finau says they use public grant money to offer the one-on-one integrated experiences for those the program supports.
That means each experience can be personalized to meet that individual's specific hobbies and interests.
Oni says they also offer Community Integrated Employment, which at CTA is an intentional process where they work with the peole they support to individualize the employment process.
She says they take into account their interests, and how they like to spend their time and what they like to do in addition to the skills they have.
Oni says, "By starting with one-on-one community integration, we were able to identify genuine interests and strengths for each individual. Carrying that insight into Employment meant people moved into roles connected to things they actually enjoy, rather than being placed based on availability alone. People who were once homebodies now have a sense of community and take pride in the work they are doing."
You can learn more at ctasupports.com.
