Foundation grants Baddour $50,000
The Baddour Center received a $50,000 grant from the H.W. Durham Foundation, which will provide new furnishings for The Center's recently renovated and expanded GoodWorks Complex II.

The Center's Vocational Division incorporates a range of integrated and coordinated services to provide meaningful training and employment for residents, including pre-vocational assessment occupation skills training, and employment in on-campus vocational complexes. To do this, Alternative Vocational Services (AVS), Research and Evaluation of the Aging Community of the Handicapped (REACH), and various other vocational positions are headquartered in GoodWorks Complex II.

AVS is a highly-structured program designed to enhance and continually evaluate the quality of life of The Center's aging residents and residents with fewer vocational skills. REACH provides employment opportunities and vocationally-oriented activities focused on skill and behavior maintenance for aging residents.

Vocational Center for Assessment and Resident Employment (VOCARE) will assist residents in determining their vocational potential, strengths, and limitations so that they can use the knowledge to make vocational choices and acquire training to make their choices a reality. Through AVS, VOCARE, and other vocational opportunities, residents who work in GoodWorks Complex II provide services to Baddour Custom Packaging customers, such as assembly and packaging, labeling and fulfillment, and warehouse and inventory management.

The furnishings, which range from work chairs and work tables to computer desks and break room chairs, purchased with funds from the H.W. Durham Foundation grant will directly impact everyone who works in GoodWorks Complex II.

The new furnishings will be ergonomically designed to reduce fatigue or discomfort of residents. They will also be compliant with standards promoted by both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Mississippi Manufacturers' Association (MMA).

"It is our belief that through the purchase of this furniture," said Parke Pepper, executive director of The Baddour Center, "Baddour residents will have a more comfortable, safe working environment. This grant from the H.W. Durham Foundation is instrumental in The Center's ability to create this type of environment."

The H.W. Durham Foundation, through grants, provides opportunities for older persons to remain productive, improve the quality of life for older persons, and enables older persons to enrich the life of their communities.