Wood Lane Residential Services Inc. received a $1,000 Neighborhood Grant from The Starbucks Foundation thanks to a nomination from a local Starbucks employee.
The nomination recognized the community impact the organization has by offering a variety of residential and life-enhancement services and programming for adults with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities.
Katelyn Smith, district manager for Starbucks in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, along with Douglas Haffner, store manager of the East Wooster Street Starbucks, and some of the store employees who voted in support of the Wood Lane Residential nomination, presented the check to Lisa, a WLRS resident, and Cal Bowers, executive director of WLRS Foundation.
“We appreciate the nomination by our local Starbucks, and are honored that we were selected to receive the grant,” Bowers said.
WLRS services include supported living, residential services, adult day programming, employment services, vocational habilitation and transportation services. Learn more at the WLRS website:
According to Jessica Miller-Blakely, CEO of Wood Lane Residential Services, “We focus on who we can serve and how we can serve them. We look to engage and empower the individuals we get to serve. Our goal is simple: we look to bring out the best in people.”
“Our partners (employees) know their communities best and have shared great insights about the organizations helping to uplift others in their neighborhoods, from supporting youth and families to fighting hunger and promoting environmental stewardship,” said Alicia Vermaele, executive director of The Starbucks Foundation. “Through our latest round of Neighborhood Grants, we’re proud to support local organizations nominated by Starbucks partners who make our communities stronger.”
Through the Neighborhood Grants program, the foundation invites Starbucks partners to nominate a local organization in their community. Since 2019, more than 10,000 grants have been awarded to local organizations, amounting to more than $15 million.
