Carolyn Ross, center, of Dent, works on a flower arranging project with BeauVita participants Theresa Brewer, left, of Cleves and Evan Sprague of Delhi.
BeauVita services for adults with disabilities will become part of the growing Stepping Stones, Inc. family on Jan. 1.

The integration of BeauVita into Stepping Stones will expand day services available on the west side of Greater Cincinnati and increase options throughout the region, said Stepping Stones executive director Chris Adams.

Stepping Stones currently provides adult day programs for people with disabilities at sites in Norwood and Batavia.

BeauVita Board President Mike Morency of Delhi said the 2-year-old BeauVita West adult services program is at capacity, with 37 clients and eight staff, and has a long waiting list.

“We wanted to expand, but we didn’t have the resources,” said Morency. ”Stepping Stones has the resources and a fantastic reputation. This is definitely a win-win situation.”

Stepping Stones, which currently serves more than 150 adults with disabilities, plans to call the new site Stepping Stones’ BeauVita West campus.

Both agencies provide similar day programming for adults with developmental disabilities, including community excursions, recreational activities and life skills. Stepping Stones’ participants tend to have greater physical challenges than the BeauVita participants. The new configuration will expand the scope of services to people with a wider range of disabilities, said Adams, of Terrace Park.

He said three BeauVita board members will join the Stepping Stones board and he expects the BeauVita staff to remain in place.

Stepping Stones is a $4.7 million United Way partner agency serving more than 1,000 children, teens and adults with disabilities at three campuses. The BeauVita West campus at 5195 North Bend Road in Monfort Heights will be Stepping Stones’ fourth campus and its first foray into the west side.

In 2014, United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cincinnati merged into Stepping Stones, creating Stepping Stones’ third program site at 2300 Drex Ave., in Norwood. That site includes a computer technology lab, art studio, gym, teaching kitchen and general program areas.

Adams said he has had a long-held goal of opening a Stepping Stones site on the west side of Cincinnati. Stepping Stones currently runs two camp buses from the west side to Stepping Stones’ summer day camps for children with disabilities. “These campers will grow up and need services as adults,” Adams said. Several participants in Stepping Stones’ Adult Services program in Norwood are from the west side of town.

“People are travelling a long way because they want to be part of Stepping Stones’ programs,” said Adams. “The future model for delivering programming will be neighborhood based. Funders want individuals to remain in their communities for services and employment opportunities.”

BeauVita has a strong independence and community focus and also provides evening and weekend activities for adults. Stepping Stones, also, has a vibrant community exploration program and is launching its own weekend adult activity program in 2016.

“Stepping Stones’ core values are very much in line with our core values,” said Carolyn Ross of Dent, who oversees BeauVita’s activity programming. She will be joining the Stepping Stones board, along with current BeauVita board members Julie Dunford of Western Hills and Mike Ricke of Bridgetown. The BeauVita founding families started the non profit in 2007 with a dream of opening a residential community for adults with disabilities. Each family has an adult member who has a disability. “Changes in government regulations put the residential goal, as we envisioned it, out of reach,” said Ross.

The group opened its BeauVita West activity center in 2013, focusing on independence skills and social and community interaction. There is no BeauVita East.

“We named it BeauVita West because we wanted people to know we were on the west side of town, because there is just not much on the west side for adults with disabilities,” said Ross.”

BeauVita’s management is all volunteer, with 8 paid staff members providing services.

“We didn’t have the funding to expand like we wanted to,” said Morency.

“With Stepping Stones, we can serve more people and provide more opportunities,” he said. “We have a strong family of supporters who have helped build BeauVita to what it is today.  My hope is that they will continue to support us as we expand our services with Stepping Stones.  I’m confident Stepping Stones will continue to offer the excellent services BeauVita is known for.”

Stepping Stones, also, was founded by parents who wanted to provide activity programs for children with disabilities. It opened in 1963 as Greater Cincinnati’s first summer day camp program open to children with any disability. Today, the signature day camp serves more than 450 children each summer. Besides day camp and Adult Services, Stepping Stones provides an alternative education program serving students with severe autism from 14 school districts, a Sensory Needs Respite & Support Program for children and teens with severe autism, summer overnight “Staycations” for teens and adults, weekend overnight respites for teens and adults and Saturday Clubs for children and young adults with disabilities.

Stepping Stones’ mission is to increase independence, improve lives and promote inclusion for children and adults with disabilities.

For information on Stepping Stones, contact Client Services at 513-831-4660 or Stepping Stones’ web site: www.steppingstonesohio.org.