Russian Agencies Visit and Seek Guidance from National Nonprofit Community Options
April 25, 2016 | Press Release.pdf
Russian Agencies Visit and Seek Guidance from National Nonprofit Community Options
Caption from L to R: Resident Anthony R.; Maria Khadeeva, Founder of Livefund; Elena Beregovaya, Director of The Vladimir Smirnov Foundation; Resident John H.
PRINCETON, NJ – Livefund is a Russian agency that provides medical aid for adults and development, education, socialization and job placement for orphans. The Vladimir Smirnov Foundation is an organization that provides support support and funding to other organizations that support orphans, sick children and individiuals with disabilities. Maria Khadeeva, the founder of Livefund, and Elena Beregovaya, the Director of The Vladimir Smirnov Foundation both traveled to New York City earlier this week to meet with officials from national nonprofit organization Community Options, Inc. to see how they run their programs.
Community Options is located in 38 cities across 10 states and provides housing and employment support to thousands of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
On Monday, the two leaders were escorted up to a Community Options home on West 137th Street by New York City Executive Director, Angela Carotenuto-Rosen.
“The day went really well,” said Carotenuto-Rosen. “They are looking to improve services for the underserved in Russia. They were intrigued about our statewide systems, funding and the approval process. Hopefully, this will aid their next steps in their organizations.”
They wanted to know how individuals are supported in the community, how Community Options receives referrals, and the New York-based Office for People With Developmental Disabilities’ (OPWDD) involvement in the process. The two sides spent over two-and-a-half hours at the residence discussing a variety of programs and services for individuals with disabilities. They seemed to be particularly interested in developing programs in Russia for children with disabilities living with foster families.
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About Community Options, Inc.:
Caption from L to R: Resident Anthony R.; Maria Khadeeva, Founder of Livefund; Elena Beregovaya, Director of The Vladimir Smirnov Foundation; Resident John H.; Angela Carotenuto-Rosen, New York City Executive Director for Community Options.
For over 25 years, Community Options has developed housing and employment programs for people with disabilities – serving thousands of people through 38 offices across 10 states. Community Options provides advocacy assistance to empower people with disabilities because all people – regardless of ability level – should live and work in the community with dignity, choice and self-determination.
For more information please visit our website: www.comop.org and to follow along with the ComOpCares campaign, search #ComOpCares on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.