Company Profile
Vita-Living, Inc.
Company Overview
Vita-Living, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) social services charity in Houston that provides lifelong support programs for adults and children with disabilities like cerebral palsy and autism. We operate on the precept that every human being deserves an equal right to a decent life. Since our inception in 1982, we have provided a range of lifelong support programs to help adults and children live meaningful, independent lives in the communities we share.
Company History
OUR STORY
Based in Houston, Texas, Vita-Living, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) non-profit agency providing long-term comprehensive care and support services for adults and children who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Before Vita-Living, Inc. the only residential option for adults with severe developmental disabilities and behavioral challenges, other than living with family, was to live in an institution or “state school.” Think of the living experience in an institutional warehouse with 1,000 other people. One Houston couple, Stan and Renee Wallace, thought they could do better. In 1977, their son Ricky was 22. Ricky had aged out of the public school system. He had problems learning and functioning in everyday life because of his intellectual and developmental disabilities, complicated by some challenging behavioral issues. Like any good parents, Stan and Renee wanted a fulfilling life for their son. But they faced some serious challenges. Now that he was no longer in school, what was Ricky going to do all day? Where was Ricky going to live? And who would be there to take care of Ricky when they were no longer around to do so?
Stan and Renee had the idea to start a small group home. This idea took three years to bring to fruition. In 1985, Beechnut House became the first licensed group home designed specifically to provide independent living for adults with severe developmental disabilities and behavioral challenges. This home was a five-bedroom duplex that became a home for six people. Some of the residents came from a state school. Others had been living with their parents. Renee remembers the anxieties she had the day she took Ricky to see Beechnut House. Ricky didn’t want to leave. He told his mom he wanted to stay at Beechnut House because “everybody looked like they were having fun”.
Since then, Vita-Living has expanded to operating 18 group homes and serving almost 500 additional adults and children living in their own homes in seven counties near and within the greater Houston area.
TEXAS TODAY
There is no polite way to say this, but Texas ranks at the very bottom in state funding for community-based programs to support people with disabilities. For the three Medicaid programs we serve, Texas has waiting lists for these services ranging from 8 to 11 years. Texas needs to increase funding significantly to continue integrating people with all disabilities into the community. Texas must develop a system to better address growing needs while reducing waiting lists for services.
Because more must be done to address the backlog of unmet needs in Texas for these kinds of services, providers like Vita-Living, Inc. rely heavily on private donations to fill the gap. We simply cannot sustain our mission to provide services and supports to the 500 Houstonians we currently serve without your financial help.
Benefits
Benefits: Paid Time Off, Dental, Life, Long Term Disability, 403B.