The Christian Opportunity Center began in 1969, when community leaders and a group of concerned parents of children with disabilities identified an unmet need in the local area, namely special education services. The first year began with five students and the enrollment grew to a peak of 43 students in 1976. Space was leased for the school program until 1975 when a school building was constructed in north Pella. As the special education program was being developed in the early 1970s, there was recognition of the need for adult vocational services. What would happen to students as they graduated from the special education program? In 1974, adult vocational services began and operated in leased facilities until the construction of a workshop in 1979, that was located north of the school building.     The next recognized need was adult residential services in response to the needs of families who would not be able to continue caring for their family member with a disability on a long-term basis. Members of the corporation approved the development of residential services in 1979. In 1981, two 15-person residences opened in Pella east of the school and workshop as a result of a successful community fund drive and the use of Industrial Revenue Sharing Bonds. In 1984, a third 15-person residence was built on the COC campus providing minimal support to residents with good daily living skills. In 1982, the Friendship Bible Series was begun at COC. In 1990, the Friendship Series was transitioned from the COC campus to local churches, consistent with the intent of the authors of the program. Today, many churches in our service area have welcomed people with disabilities and included them in the life of the church. Some major philosophical changes in the disability field began shaping services at COC in the late 1980s. In special education, the trend was away from segregated programs to inclusionary programs. This led to the re-location of the special education program from the COC campus to the Pella Christian Grade School in 1987, and to a program at the Pella Christian High School in 1990. Today, COC continues to provide financial assistance to special education students in the local area via the COC Foundation. In residential services, the trend was away from large congregate facilities to smaller residences in the community or to individual supports in a person's own home or apartment. In 1987, the Community Living Arrangement (CLA) program began providing follow-along support to individuals in Marion County. This change also meant the development of two 5-person residences, one in Pella in 1989, and one in Des Moines in 1990. In 1994, two 8-person ICFs/MR were developed in Indianola, and one in Pella in response to lengthy waiting lists for people with severe disabilities. In 1998, three single-family homes, each supporting four persons, were purchased in Pella for use as HCBS Waiver homes. At the same time, the 15-person Residential Care Facility for persons with Mental Retardation (RCF/MR) was downsized to support five people, and the west wing was converted to staff lodging in an attempt to enhance the recruitment of direct support professionals. In 2002, the Broadway RCF/MR was closed and the Broadway ICF/MR was downsized using one wing of the former RCF/MR and one wing of the ICF/MR to continue providing supports to 15 people. Vocationally, the trend was away from facility based employment programs (i.e. sheltered employment or workshops) to individual or small group placements in community businesses. In 1987, community based employment began in Pella. In 1989, COC expanded services to Oskaloosa, providing both facility based and community based employment. Facility based employment was also added in Indianola in 1994. COC's mission statement has remained essentially unchanged over the years. Although wording changes have occurred, two principles have remained consistent, the commitment to providing quality supports to people with disabilities, and the commitment to the Christian values of the founding fathers. Commitment to quality has been evidenced by eight consecutive three-year accreditations by the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission (CARF) beginning in 1982. Financially, the COC operational budget has grown from $15,000 to nearly $9,000,000, serving nearly 300 persons in a four-county area. In 1981, the COC Foundation was begun to provide for the long-term financial stability of the organization. In 2002, the COC Foundation hired a full time development director to help grow the Foundation and help secure COC's future. The COC Volunteers Corps was instrumental during the first 20 years of COC, oftentimes providing key financial support to the organization. They officially disbanded in 1993, but continue to serve informally in many ways. In 2002, COC acquired another not-for-profit organization, the Winifred Law Opportunity Center (WLOC) in Indianola. This acquisition resulted in supports to an additional 74 people with disabilities, 42 staff members, and annual revenues of nearly $1.0M. With the acquisition came four 4-person HCBS homes, an office building and Life Skills Training Center, and a facility based employment program in leased facilities. The acquisition also included supports to people living in their own apartments in the community and supports to people working in community businesses. Staff recruitment and retention has been the biggest challenge of the last decade. In 1999, the COC Board of Directors approved a deficit budget of nearly $400,000 in an effort to enhance staff compensation. Immediate results were seen in our efforts to recruit and retain quality staff members despite the limited labor pool in the COC service areas. It will be an ongoing challenge to balance the needs of people with disabilities with the finite resources of taxpayers. In 2001, the COC Foundation Board of Directors and the COC Board of Directors approved a plan for use of 5% of the three-year average of COC Foundation assets for six specific funds (i.e. Staff Enhancement Fund, Trip/Event/Camp Fund, International Ministry Fund, Special Education Fund, Special Needs Assistance Fund, and the Spiritual Nurture Fund for Persons Supported). In 2004, COC acquired Total Living Center (TLC), Inc., a not-for-profit organization in Indianola. TLC built the two 8-person ICFs/MR that COC had been leasing since 1994 under a management contract. The acquisition also included a single family dwelling in Indianola that had been leased to WLOC for use as a group home prior to the acquisition of WLOC by COC. In 2005, COC completed a major $800,000 to the Indianola Plant, consolidating vocational and administrative offices at a single location in the Industrial Park. Construction of new wheelchair accessible homes in Pella and Indianola began in the summer of 2005.