For decades, New Hope has offered a day habilitation program for those it serves. The goal of this program is to provide opportunities for individuals to maintain or learn new skills while also working toward greater community inclusion.
Several years ago, New Hope renamed its day habilitation program the Connections program. The name is designed to correspond with the program’s goal of connecting individuals to the community around them, by providing opportunities to learn new skills through greater community inclusion.
New Hope’s Connections program is geared toward individuals with intellectual disabilities, brain injury or chronic mental illness who might be looking for an environment where they can learn social skills, grow friendships, gain responsibilities and learn life skills. Participants are generally ages 16—88+. In 2022-2023, an average of 60 individuals were enrolled in New Hope’s Connections Program.
A wide variety of activities are offered in the program including volunteering, day trips and recreational outings. Skills activities are also planned based on goals established through Individual Service Plans (ISP). These ISP’s are developed with the participant, their family and New Hope’s support team. The plan is updated on a regular basis to assess how an individual is doing in meeting their goals and to stay
relevant to the participant’s personal growth.
Program participants take part in a variety of activities which allow them to learn and grow their social skills, actively participate in their communities and grow those friendships. Over the past year, they not only explored local communities, they would also travel further away as well. Program favorites included a trip to the Clay County Fair in Spencer, karaoke at the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) campus in Carroll, and several dances at Renew Church. With RAGBRAI coming through Carroll in 2023, and right past the front door of Connections, program participants had a front seat to many fun activities, music and more in July!
Connections staff also added some new activities this past year, including a trip to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in Milford, the Heartland Museum in Clarion, Sanford Museum and Planetarium in Cherokee, the Shrine of the Grotto of Redemption in West Bend, and the Guthrie County Historical Village and Museum in Panora. Participants were active, and truly living New Hope’s mission of enriching their lives through exploring all that Iowa has to offer.
For more information on the Connections program, or to learn if this would be a good fit for your loved one, contact Joyce Hinners, Program Coordinator, at (712) 792-5500.
To learn more about New Hope’s Residential Services, contact:
