Community

The community opportunities listed below are ways to get involved in Cincinnati. Many of the listed organizations offer employment and volunteer opportunities for college students, which are great ways to gain valuable experience.

Special Olympics Hamilton County is a local nonprofit that provides year-round programming for individuals with mental and developmental disabilities.

Their mission is to provide year-round sports, training, and competition in a variety of sports for children and adults with mental and developmental disabilities in order to create continuing opportunities for them to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience the joy of achievement, be included in the community, build skills, and make friends.

The goal is for all persons with mental and developmental disabilities to have the opportunity to become useful and productive citizens who are accepted and respected in their communities.

For more information or to get involved in the Special Olympics, please the Special Olympics website.

The Cincinnati Recreation Commission's Division of Therapeutic Recreation offers leisure services for individuals with disabilities. The services promote healthy lifestyles and provide opportunities to participate in high-quality recreational and cultural experiences in the community.

As advocates for individuals with disabilities, they provide inclusive and therapeutic recreation programming choices and promote accessibility at all CRC facilities.

Therapeutic Recreation provides a consultative approach to supporting individuals with disabilities in all CRC programs and facilities. The goal is to provide opportunities for inclusion that reduce the physical, programmatic and attitudinal barriers. In addition to providing support to CRC facilities, they act as a resource to our community in areas such as advocacy, disability awareness and disability training

For more information about Therapeutic Recreation or to get involved, please visit this website.

Are you called to build a stronger community and give back to the people around you? Volunteering with Cincinnati Youth Collaborative (CYC) allows you to do just that!

CYC has a variety of volunteer opportunities available to fit your schedule, from one-time event volunteering, to weekly group mentoring, or even one-to-one mentoring. Many CYC students face profound obstacles like incarcerated parents, family drug abuse, poverty, and even homeless. Your involvement in their lives at any level will empower them to overcome those obstacles and reach their full potential.

Discover which volunteer opportunity is right for you. Learn more at Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, and contact our Volunteer Manager, Carman Toler, at 513-363-5236.

The TALL Institute (Thomas Adventures in Lifelong Learning), a non-profit organization, offers unique specially designed lifelong learning opportunities to adults (21 years and older who have accepted their high school diploma) with developmental/ intellectual challenges.

All classes at the TALL Institute are taught by licensed professionals with experience in their fields. Course curricula are designed to meet each individual's goals in the areas of physical health, social health and personal development.

The goals of the TALL Institute are fairly straightforward. By providing an educational setting that is safe and supportive participants will:

• Make new friends
• Develop healthy relationships
• Be happier people
• Demonstrate appropriate behaviors that are necessary for success in life areas such as work, independent living and healthy relationships.

For more information or to get involved with The Tall Institute, please visit the Tall Institute website.

Marjorie Book Continuing Education brings teenagers and adults with and without disabilities together for continuing education classes, service learning projects and theatrical productions. Marjorie Book believe that teenagers and adults of various abilities can benefit from coming together for activities of common interest and sharing their gifts and strengths.

As of 2010, the group currently sponsors educational classes such as yoga and German at Friendship Methodist Church and Xavier University, six service projects around Cincinnati and through an out-of-town trip to Toledo and three theatrical productions a year at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The group has served hundreds of teenagers and adults with and without disabilities in the past two decades. In 2008, the organization changed it name to Marjorie Book Continuing Education to reflect its increasing emphasis on educational and service programs. In recent years, people with intellectual disabilities have increasingly pursued postsecondary education opportunities, and Marjorie Book Continuing Education serves as a possible option for people with disabilities to pursue further education in an inclusive environment.

For more information about Marjorie Book or to get involved, please visit this website.