Non Profits Forge Alliance and Set Merger Date of July 1, 2007

Costa Mesa, CA, June 10, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Thirty years ago two organizations began as a dream. Somehow people with developmental disabilities had to have better alternatives. Vantage Foundation looked to getting people out of state hospitals and providing behavioral support for them to live and work in their community. Project Independence, started by parents, recognized with support their child could live on their own.

So with these visions, two distinct groups grew to be well respected experts, providing state of the art services to Orange County that set the standard in California and across the nation. Project Independence, maybe best known for its Independent Living Program also includes Supported Employment and Community Day Programs, serving 600 people in over 200 jobs. They also are the Social Security resource for Orange County providing Work Incentive Planning and Assistance. Vantage Foundation has been providing exemplary community based behavior support programs for 25 years, being the first program in California to provide employment support for people with the most significant disabilities. Working with employers to carve out jobs that allowed special accommodations, Vantage staff has been supporting people in jobs including U.C.I. and Kings Fish House as well as being well known down at the piers in Newport as part of the Balboa Beautification Project.

Why merge? According to Debra Marsteller, executive director of both organizations for the past two years, “Our Board of Directors saw an opportunity to meet the changing needs of Orange County. Increasing the expertise of staff, expanding programs to include more options for people and consolidation of back office expenses just make sense.” For two years the respective ten member boards have been debating the benefits
to their clients to make such a move. “Combining the resources, both fiscal and human, of these two great organizations, is a chance to better serve our community. We are more convinced now than when we began this endeavor that this is a wonderful idea. We look forward to the opportunity to expand and augment programs for adults with developmental disabilities in our new stronger structure,” says Kurt Yeager PI Board President.

July 1, 2007 is the first day of the new combined organization, which will keep the name Project Independence. Community celebrations and Open Houses will be planned in the near future. Committees are being formed to begin a Capital Campaign to purchase a building but for now these two Costa Mesa based agencies will retain their offices in Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Laguna Hills, sharing resources and continuing advocacy for people with developmental disabilities. “Changes should be seamless to our consumers and families,” according to Marsteller, who says staff retention is a high priority of the new organization. “We love our staff and know it’s the personal relationships that make our agencies unique and wonderful. We want our new agency to retain the personal touches that keep our clients happy.”

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For more information, or to schedule an interview with Debra Marsteller or Kurt Yeager, please call Debra on her cell at 714 336-3424 or email at dmarsteller@p-i.org