Providence Place Center: A Place to Grow

What happens to young people with a disability and who have graduated from high school but who aren’t yet ready for college or the workforce? Some need more training to make their way in life. But where can they go to get that help?

As a parent of a high-school-age son with a disability, I’ve grown used to searching for new, helpful resources, programs, and activities for my child. It wasn’t always easy. (There wasn’t always a site this, where you can quickly find resources nearby with a simple search!)

But when you find a great program, it can be a huge relief.

That’s how I felt when I discovered Providence Place Center. I’d been looking for resources that would help my son prepare for his transition from adolescence into young adulthood. 

Providence Place Center, located in San Antonio, is an after-school center for people with disabilities, focused on helping young adults develop independence by developing job and daily-living skills.

Like many such centers around the state, Providence Place has some basic requirements to take advantage of their resources. Clients must:

• Be 18 or over
• Be able to bathe, dress, and do personal hygiene by themselves
• Get around by themselves
• Clean their own room
• Do their own laundry
• Be diagnosed with a disability such as Autism

Providence Place takes a cooperative approach to learning. By sharing a room with others, people learn to support and encourage each other as they learn to:

• Manage their own money
• Shop for everyday items such as laundry soap
• Grow vegetables in the garden, collect eggs, etc.
• Sell vegetables and eggs at a farmers’ market
• Work in a restaurant
• Work in a store

Those are skills that anyone can use! And by having their clients work side-by-side, Providence Place Center helps forge a community of people who are on their way to independent living.

Fortunately, Providence Place Center has a staff that includes teachers, coaches, and nurses. My son had a variety of experts to teach and support him. Even better, most staff are bilingual and experienced in American Sign Language. And there is someone available 24 hours a day for emergencies.

For additional information and to schedule an interview, contact Terri Gutierrez, MSW, Admissions Director, for Providence Place at 1-800-842-5433, [email protected], or www.provplace.org. 

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