One of the hardest parts of Bob Brown’s job as president and CEO of Opportunity Village, a nearly 70-year-old Las Vegas nonprofit serving thousands of people with disabilities, is convincing loved ones that the organization can make a difference in the lives of its patrons.
Many of the programs at Opportunity Village are aimed toward making people with intellectual and developmental disabilities more independent, Brown said, which can seem unrealistic to their families who care for them and might never anticipate them having a job or leaving home.
“And yet, we should expect that, because they’re human beings just like everybody else and they have that ability,” Brown said, noting that he’s a parent of a child with a disability. “But it just takes a little more work and more effort. That’s what we do here.”
The organization, perhaps best known for annual events like its Magical Forest winter wonderland, offers several opportunities for people with disabilities—from daily arts and recreation to long-term employment, rehabilitation and residential options.
People with disabilities start in whatever Opportunity Village program they want to, Brown said, and go from there. Ultimately, he said, the organization wants to help people grow.
“We’re finding what people need and filling those needs for families and people with disabilities,” Brown said, while sitting in the clubhouse at Betty’s Village, a residential community the organization opened almost two years ago as an inclusive independent living option for people with disabilities.
Betty’s Village is an integrated community of one- and two-bedroom apartments—and even a couple of four-bedroom houses—for people with disabilities, which is overseen by Opportunity Village but allows for individual service providers to come in and take care of residents as needed, Brown said.
“In the majority of cases, there has to be better care for people with disabilities,” Brown said, noting the differences between Betty’s Village and a traditional group home. “They can live wonderful, authentic lives, but they need to have the services. They need to have the wraparound services, and that’s what we provide.”
The neighborhood was at 100% capacity within three months of opening, Brown said, and hundreds of people are on a waiting list. The organization is fundraising for a second, larger Betty’s Village, he added, on which it would hopefully begin construction next spring.
The community is great, Brown said, and the residents have organized regular sunset walks together.
Lizzy Samlowski, a woman with disabilities who lives in Betty’s Village and described herself as its mayor, said she enjoys living on her own in one of the community’s townhomes, because she can spend her free time socializing with others. “Sometimes I bring my bluetooth speaker and play music and we walk around … it’s fun to get to walk and talk,” she said.
Samlowski, a 36-year-old ambassador for Opportunity Village, also talked about her experience in the nonprofit’s employment program, in which job coaches provide training and employment placement for people with disabilities.
Samlowski has worked for about four years at a local Starbucks, where she greets many customers by name. “I like working there and getting to interact with customers,” she said.
Opportunity Village has 64 job placement opportunities for people with disabilities—ranging from mixing mochas at Starbucks to cleaning cages at the Animal Foundation—with on-site supervisors for people hired through OV, Brown said.
“That’s a big charge for us,” Brown said, “seeing people get jobs out of the community.”
As Opportunity Village looks to accomplish its goals—building a second Betty’s Village, further developing its cookie business, Dessie’s Table, and expanding its campuses around the Las Vegas Valley—the organization is hosting job fairs for people interested in working with people with disabilities.
When Opportunity Village hires a new employee, Brown said, the nonprofit can provide its services to two or three others.
“Working with people with disabilities is one of the most wonderful things you can do in terms of a job,” he said. “It’s so rewarding.”