Green Valley Association has it's roots in caring volunteers from our community and has developed through providing services needed by people from our area who have developmental disabilities.  Services have become more diverse and have changed over the years, but our founding principle of control by local community members and service to local community members has not changed.

Green Valley was incorporated in 1967 as Green Valley Association for Retarded Children.  It was and continues to be a nonprofit corporation governed by a board of up to 12 directors.  In 1967, Green Valley provided advocacy services and some academic programming.  Over the next 10 years, dedicated family and other community members volunteered to provide academic education for children in borrowed spaces with donated materials.

A one-year grant of $25,000 was awarded in 1977 for Green Valley to provide academic and vocational services to 11 people.  A building was bought and Green Valley Center opened with one full time and one part time employee.  A year later the name of the corporation was changed to Green Valley Association for the Retarded.

A boarding home was opened in 1979 to provide housing in Island Falls for six men.  The next year this residence was certified as an Intermediate Care Facility serving people with Mental Retardation (ICF/MR).  The name of this program was changed in 1988 from Green Valley Group Home to 1 Sewall Street.

Another ICF/MR group home was opened in Patten in 1983 to provide a home for 4 men and 2 women.  This was then called Green Valley Patten Group Home but now goes by 24 Katahdin Street.

In June of 1986 the last of Green Valley Center's academic programs was ended and all academic programs in our catchment area became integrated into the local school systems.

Another name change came for the agency with our participation in the national move to person first language.  The principles of person first language require that the person should be considered and named first in any discussion, e.g. talking about a person that has mental retardation is preferable to talking about a mentally retarded person.  Also, a person's disability should not be named at all when you only need to consider that person or their abilities.  So in 1988 the name of the association became simply Green Valley Association.

An adult waiver foster home, 10 Gardner Street, opened in Patten in 1989.  Four men lived there exercising a substantial degree of independence.

Day services at Green Valley Center served 27 people.  It was funded by a combination of state, federal, and donations from local towns, counties, and United Way.  This money provided a foundation for other money sources in that it was used as seed required to qualify for some state and federal money.

Green Valley Center operated three programs.  The Work Activities Program did furniture stripping, janitorial and wood working skills training and other work on a contract basis.  The Practical Life Program trained people in social skills, money handling, hobby activities, domestic skills, and any other skills that they needed to conduct their day-to-day life.  The Fundamental Life Program conducted training in simple functional skills needed in daily life, physical development, communication and social skills training, and other activities that fostered the development of each person's potential.

In 1994 Green Valley divided the day program into two separate programs in two separate locations.  Developmental programming and community inclusion services are based in Community Connections located on Katahdin Street in Patten. Work programs remained in Crystal focused on an expanded wood product production facility renamed Wicked Good Wood Shop.

Residential services were transformed starting in 1996.  Waters Road opened to provide supported living services to two people in a house in Patten.  In the next year the two ICF/MR group homes converted their licenses to Level I+ Supported Living services and reduced the capacity of each residence to four people.  Another home was opened in Island Falls and named David Street.  Thirty people are served in all programs.

The Maine Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services (BDS) still provides ongoing oversight of all programs in day services and the U.S. Department of Labor Certifies and regulates employment practices in the work programs.

Green Valley Association has for many years and continues to support many people's participation in Summer Special Olympics.

We spent many years developing an individual placement supported employment program contracted with the Maine Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and BDS.  Employment supports provided by this program included job finding, training on the job, help with transportation, job site modification, and employer support.  This program sustains continued interest and its application continues to a very limited extent.  We found that the poor employment prospects and tough competition from non-disabled workers for the few jobs in our community made this program prohibitively expensive and the rate of finding and retaining placements remained low.  In recent years, the focus of our vocational program has shifted toward developing and integrating the workforce of our sheltered workshop.  Development of a cedar products line and improved marketing have allowed the work based program, now named Maine Trellis Company (MTC), to expand the choice of activities and jobs for the people served as well as improving their benefits and potential for earnings.  Parallel to this has been the expansion of the number of people from our local community that are employed to work side-by-side with the people served by MTC.  Satisfaction rates have climbed and we are approaching parity in the number of disabled and non-disabled people working at MTC.

Currently, All of Green Valley's residences provide ongoing active treatment in social, physical, and intellectual development and daily living skills.  They focus on development of community inclusion, personal development, and functional skills.

They are licensed by the Maine Department of Human Services (DHS) and also monitored by the Maine Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services (BDS).  All funding for our residences is from Medicaid.

The main thrust for the future for Green Valley Association is the development of a greater diversity of vocational and residential alternatives in response to the expressed preferences of the people of our area.

The Family and Children Services opened in 1998 to provide in-home and community based support to approximately 22 children with mental health or developmental disabilities and their families.  By 2000 we served 52 adults and children in residential, work, and community support programs.

Green Valley association continues to develop adult and children's services and has now increased enrollment to 61 people.

revised:  12/26/02