2024 Annual Appeal: The Future Looks Bright
Giving Tuesday is December 3, 2024!
We are incredibly grateful for each and every one of you and for all that you do to support our friends with disabilities. You make it possible for people with disabilities, their families, and others to Look to a Brighter Future!
Thanks to the generous support of an anonymous family:
All donations will be matched up to $40,000!!
Turn your donation into 2x the amount by making a gift before December 31!
Donate $100 OR sign up for our monthly giving program to receive an official DSAW 2025 Calendar! It's loaded with pictures from all our chapters and includes important upcoming DSAW events.
2024 Year in Review
41,168 Total service hours provided to individuals: all direct services
220 Number of participants in group programming
18 Webinars with over 525 viewers
6,826 Total hours of 1:1 daily living skills, all regions
12,000+ Total job support hours to our participants in their jobs
85 Job Shadows set up and accompanied with participants
69 Job Prep and Development Plans completed
4,841 Individuals who participated in 8 Awareness Walks
10,538 Attendees at our community outreach events
49 Enrichment grants for families in need totaling over $10,500
37 New and expectant parent packages sent to families in the moments following a diagnosis
Education Classes Tailored for Kettle Moraine Students
DSAW has a partnership with the Kettle Moraine Transition Program to teach workplace education classes to high school and middle school students with disabilities, setting them up for bright futures. Recently, DSAW has also started professional development and observations with the elementary schools in the district.
Real World Experience!
At the high school level, DSAW staff members teach classes relating to pre-vocational skills, kitchen skills, essential skills as well as community outings and industry tours. Students are also offered work experience rotations at restaurants, grocery stores, and manufacturing facilities. These experiences give people with disabilities the opportunity to try different industries and practice their employment skills.
Kettle Moraine Partnership- The Kettle Moraine Transition Program partners with the Kettle Moraine School District
The program Includes:
Topics chosen by teachers based on a student’s focus of interest and skill level
Industry tours once a month
Work experiences at local area businesses
Employment-based topics relating to industry-specific skills
Additional classes focusing on social skills & self-esteem, and therapeutic groups
The Foundations of Employment Success
Each year, DSAW allocates a few weeks out of the year to assist students in building a resume and cover letter to use for potential career opportunities. Many students who have gone through the program have gotten their first job, or a new job, by using DSAW’s resume resources.
Students also spend time practicing how to answer some of the most commonly asked interview questions. Students have returned from interviews stating they were confident in answering all the interviewers’ questions.
For more information on DSAW's statewide education services, click HERE
The Think Ability Wisconsin Center Online (TAWC)
The Think Ability Wisconsin Center, which is powered by the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin, provides a comprehensive approach to supporting people with disabilities, their families, educators, employers, providers, and others in Wisconsin. Our loved ones with disabilities will have brighter futures if we get people thinking ABILITY!
The TAWC offers resources and support for a brighter future!
The Think Ability Wisconsin Center is a robust website with dynamic, user-friendly, interactive content directing people to the information and services they need. It's a one-stop-shop resource and call center designed to help walk you through your journey. We have live Navigators available to answer your questions via phone or email Monday thru Friday. Reach out to us with ANY questions related to disability! We are ready to help your loved ones realize their own Bright Futures!
TAWC Resources & Support
- Job Training - Skills Assessments - Job Boards - Benefits Counseling - Futures Planning - Housing Counseling - Transition Planning - Consumer Education - And more!
TAWC Navigators
The TAWC features a one-stop responsive call center and virtual resource center to help youth, self-advocates, families, employers, and educators to find information and services they need – with a special focus on life transitions and employment.
TAWC Navigators will help you create a plan and connect you to the resources you need. Our Navigators can help you access 7,000 services, programs, and resources in all 72 Wisconsin counties and 11 tribal agencies through our partner network!
Our Navigators are here to help
Think Ability Navigators are available by phone or email Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST. Think Ability Wisconsin Navigator support is FREE, confidential, and personalized.
To check out Think Ability Wisconsin Click HERE
or call
888-695-2030
Nicole with her Supervisor, Cory.
Employers in Wisconsin are facing a hiring, retention, and labor shortage crisis. There are 2.4 open positions for every individual seeking employment. There are 600,000 open positions in manufacturing and hospitality and a significant majority of these only require a high school education.
Only 21.3% of people with disabilities are employed, meaning that there are hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who are ready, willing, and able to work. They just need Wisconsin's employers to believe in them and give them the training and opportunity to succeed.
Benefits of Hiring an Individual with Disabilities
Hiring a person with disabilities just makes good business sense. The economic benefits for hiring people with disabilities go far beyond an employer's workplace:
Benefits for the Employer
Lower absenteeism rates
Increased productivity
Lower employee turnover
Positive company image in the community
Benefits for Hiring an Indivdual with Disabilities
Motivated to work
Loyal to employer
Friendiler to customers
Consistent job performance
Meet Nicole
Nicole started working at Kwik Trip in Fitchburg WI as a Retail Helper in August of 2024. Her duties include stocking, cleaning & supporting the store for three two-hour shifts.
DSAW’s South Central job developers found her this position through a general job fair that Kwik Trip was holding. Nicole also received full support from DSAW’s Vocational Support program.
Kwik Trip has a partnership with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) to employ people with disabilities as Retail Helpers.
Nicole loves her job because she enjoys her co-workers and keeping the counters clean and organized. She also loves to spend some of her earnings at Starbucks and Target!
DSAW's Employment Services
DSAW offers Employment Services including career discovery, work readiness, and work-based learning to people with disabilities in Wisconsin. Our staff is there, from start to finish, ready to assist an individual who wants to work.
Here are a few of the programs and services DSAW provides:
- Career Exploration - Job Shadow
- Job Preparation Development Plan - Career Profile
- Skills to Pay the Bills - Work Experience
- Job Development - Job Coaching
Employers can partner with DSAW to hire their company’s next quality employee!
For more information on all the Employment Programs DSAW offers, click HERE
Living independently can be an important part of a person's life journey. People with disabilities born within the last 30 years have been taught and invested in since they were born, and in return, they are thriving. People with disabilities can now work in integrated jobs in the community, own their own companies, drive cars, and live as vital, engaged members of their communities.
DSAW provides education and daily living skills training to help people with disabilities prepare for their bright futures, whether it be living with family, in supportive housing, living independently, or another option.
Meet Daniel
Daniel is 36 years old and has been living independently in his own home since 2013. Daniel has created a full life for himself. He enjoys cooking, singing in 2 choirs, hanging out in the community, watching TV, and doing the yard work!
He also participates in many of the DSAW-Fox Cities events including retreats, Halloween parties, and other festivities. He has attended many DSAW-Fox Cities Annual Awareness Walks and was chosen to be an Official Walk Ambassador one year.
DSAW's Programming & Services
DSAW can provide many resources for individuals with disabilities who are looking to make the transition into independent or supported living. DSAW also offer courses in daily living skills like Kitchen Basics, Social Skills, Money Skills, and Physical Fitness and Nutrition. By supporting DSAW today, you support the bright futures of people like Daniel!
DSAW has many programs and resources available for new and expectant parents through our Parent’s First Call Program. We are here to answer all of your questions and guide you along your journey.
When expecting parents receive a Down syndrome diagnosis, they are experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. The first thing to understand is that they are not alone. In Wisconsin, there are more than 8,000 individuals with Down syndrome. DSAW represents the interests of these families, providing programs, services, resources, and support.
DSAW's PFC Program offers new parents multiple programs and services to guide them through the first initial phases for parenting a child with Down syndrome.
Kristina joined the Prenatal Support Group as well as Parents First Call. For her, it was important to get a glimpse into the future to see all the possibilities and what type of life her daughter would experience.
“What I found gave me so much hope.”
Meet Maddie
Maddie is 16 months old and a bundle of joy for parents Kristina and Kevin. Kristina and Kevin found out about DSAW's Parent's First Call Program when they were given a pamphlet about the program from the Fetal Concerns Office at Children’s WI Hospital.
Kristina recalls her first impression when contacting DSAW about the Parent's First Call Program. I felt welcomed and the tone of the conversation was filled with happiness.
““I was told congratulations, not I’m sorry.””
Parents Kristina and Kevin with Maddie's siblings Max, Benji, and Annabelle.
