T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E
ago and has been helping individuals with disabilities learn to help themselves in the Texarkana area since 1968. The Work Center was originally in the College Hill area of Texarkana, Arkansas. In 1978, the Workshop Thrift Shop and upholstery program on Whitaker Street in Texarkana, Texas was discontinued to emphasize industrial-type work and subcontracts. After a year of planning, a small business administration loan was secured to build a new facility in the Industrial Park on East 19th Street in Texarkana, Arkansas. The name was also changed to Texarkana Work Center to reflect the Center ’s emphasis on “work.” In 1985, the Work Center began providing programs for Haven Home of Texarkana, Inc., an established residential program for men with developmental disabilities. In 1991, Texarkana Resources for the Disabled, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) charity, was established as an umbrella corporation with board members from both Texarkana Work Center and Haven Home forming one Board of Directors. The center’s mission is “to provide education, training and suppor t to enable all persons with disabilities to reach their highest level of potential and self-sufficiency within the community.” Several businesses in the community have remained loyal to the center’s mission and support of the cause for over 30 years now. These businesses include INPAC, LLC.,
JCM Industries, Sterno, HUMCO, Smith- Blair and new partners in recent years such as Cooper Tire. These partnerships were made in connection with United Way of Greater Texarkana. Services offered by the center have led many clients to successful independent living. The Ross Parker Training Center, named after its founder, is a vocational training center where individuals with disabilities have the opportunity to learn job skills. This is done by partnering with local businesses who send work for the trainees to complete and then it is shipped out. This is a perfect program for a person with disabilities who has never worked before but would like to. Trainees are taught both hard and soft skills of working and completing job tasks. The center also has several community custodial contracts where they go out on job sites and clean. Undertaking these tasks, participants are able to earn minimum wage or higher. Haven Home is the community living program that comprises an entire city block in Arkansas and provides housing for 15 people with disabilities. There is a community-living home that houses six individuals, two training apartments that house two individuals, and seven duplex apartments that house seven individuals. The goal of this program is to assist those with disabilities to live as independently as possible. They start in the main house that requires 24/7 staff support, and later
Another shining example of the success of The Ross Parker Training Center is Corey Williams . Williams has been coming to the center since high school, 15 years ago. He was living with his family then but recently came upon hard times and had no place to live. Without hesitation, Jennifer offered Williams to move into Haven Home. He has lived in Haven Home since April 2021. During that time, Williams has grown tremendously! He has learned how to cook for the first time, pump gas, do his own laundry and manage his own money. Williams has now transitioned to the Supported Employment Program and is actively looking for community employment. Williams shared, “Texarkana Resources has helped me to learn different tasks and now I am ready to work in the community. They have helped me meet new people and have friendships. I just moved to Haven Home this year and have been able to go on trips and do things I have never been able to do before. I feel very blessed!”
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C OMM U N I T Y & C U L T U R E
C O MM U N I T Y & C U L T U R E
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