HISTORY OF CVII
Cleveland Vocational Industries, Inc. was formed and Incorporated in 1984 by a planning group consisting of concerned parents, professionals from Cleveland County Mental Health, Shelby City Schools, Clergy and Business leaders. Until that time, if a person needed services they had to travel out of the County. Funding for services was limited as well and many adults were placed on waiting lists for services. In many cases, people had been waiting for over five years!
A Board of Directors was formed to develop the program. With the help of the M.R. Specialist (Ms. Cindy King) and the Area Director (Dr. Sandy Brenneman) of Cleveland County Mental Health, a small start-up grant was obtained from the State of North Carolina. The board then hired an Executive Director to develop and manage the operational affairs of the organization on January 1, 1985. The agency then obtained a non-conditional licensure to operate an Adult Developmental Activities Program (ADAP).
The Organization opened its doors for service on March 6, 1985 serving 10 individuals. By June of 1985 that number had grown to 40 and the organization was serving people across the entire county. Within months our organization was being driven by the people we served. We quickly learned how important earning a pay check was and started developing relationships with local companies to provide work training. It was obvious that many of the people we were serving had employable skills but needed some help to be successful. In December of 1985 we applied for and received a small venture grant from Cleveland County United Way to develop Job Coaching services. We made our first placement the following spring and the following year we were one of only eight programs state-wide to receive endorsement by Vocational Rehabilitation to provide those services for them. In 1986 we also added services to individuals with more severe barriers using the CAP-MR waiver. Serving those individuals helped us to understand that we were not only helping someone that we served, but their family and the community. Imagine being the sole provider/caregiver 24 hours a day without help. Our services allowed family members to have a life and get involved in the community.
In 1988 we started recycling plastic waste from our local textile industries in a rented building in Fallston, N.C. At it’s height we were keeping 2.6 million pounds of plastic out of our local landfills. True to our mission we decided to train and hire adults with barriers to employment. A modest grant from JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act) helped us develop the training program. It was a great success and we received a Governor’s award for our efforts the following year. We added an additional 17,600 square feet to our facility in 1990 to consolidate our operations.
At that point we had expanded as much as we could on our property in Lawndale and were also doing more community support services. We needed to be closer to Shelby, N.C. to make those services cost effective. We then purchased the property on Post Road and began a capital campaign to raise the funds for our facility. We moved into our new 56,000 square foot facility the fall of 1999. One year later a group of parents, staff and board members began planning services for our older and more medically frail Training Associates. They looked at programs that they considered to be “best practices” and planned LifeSkills of Cleveland County. LifeSkills is a structured day activity program that offers life enrichment services in all areas of a person’s life.
To learn more about CVII’s programs and services, browse our following pages:
- Administration
- Board of Directors
- Licenses/Accreditation
- Programs & Community Integration
- Vocational Rehabilitation & Community Employment
- Alli’s Café
Our Mission
Our mission is to “provide opportunities and training for individuals with barriers to employment”.
A barrier is anything that limits a person’s ability to obtain and maintain employment. We aggressively look for business partners who can provide real, paid work for our Training Associates’ (TA) in an integrated production environment with production employees as mentors. This work develops strong skills and drives our organization to find exciting new approaches to employment training.
For many of our TA’s, this work is a stepping-stone to a chosen career and/or the first time they have earned a paycheck. Our mission is to provide training and employment opportunities for adults with barriers to employment and we do this through services such as Vocational Rehabilitation, Supported Employment, Developmental Therapies and Adult Developmental Vocational Program services.
Purpose Statement
Cleveland Vocational is dedicated to empowering adults with intellectual or physical impairments by providing opportunities for work, social interaction, life skills, and relationship-building in a safe and caring environment.
We believe that everyone deserves the chance to thrive, and we are committed to creating a supportive community where individuals can achieve their fullest potential.
Who We Are
Cleveland Vocational Industries Inc. is a private 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation.
We are a community based organization serving adults primarily living in Cleveland County, North Carolina. We plan the direction of the organization based upon input from Training Associates, parents, customers, service providers and the community. Our philosophy of service is to act as a facilitator for change in a person’s life. Our job is to help guide a person in meeting the goals that they set for themselves.
We use the term “Training Associate” to describe the people we serve, where similar companies use the term “client”. We have supported and helped hundreds of individuals find meaningful careers for over 30 years. To do that, we aggressively look for business partners who can provide real, paid work for our Training Associates in our facility. This work not only helps develop good work skills for people seeking a job, but drives our organization to find new and exciting approaches to employment training.
We provide real, paid work for our Training Associates in an integrated production environment. Production employees act as mentors for our Training Associates. For many of our Training Associates, the work we provide can be a stepping stone to a chosen career. It becomes a vehicle for change in their life. For others here at Cleveland Vocational, this may be the first time they have ever earned a paycheck.
What We Do
CVII provides training in self-help, recreation, community living, social skills, academic, work activity, work adjustment and safety skills based on individual choice. The organization offers Day Support and Innovations home and community services.
CVII works to develop daily-living skills that will enrich each person’s life and provide him/her with the opportunity to develop to his/her fullest potential by using Natural Supports. CVII provides an atmosphere that is conducive to learning, working, and developing successful living skills.
CVII cooperates with all public and private agencies that have an interest in the Training Associates’ well being and to provide opportunities and alternatives for living.
CVII provides an atmosphere that is conducive to learning, working, and developing successful living skills.