Nodaway County Services is focused on community

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Nodaway County Services hosted a picnic at Judah Park on National Picnic Day last week. NCS and clients had a meal and reconnected.

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MARYVILLE, Mo. — Nodaway County Services helps individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities reach their fullest potential to live the life they want and ensure they are treated with dignity, respect and compassion. And in that effort, the organization, located at 122 E. Lieber St., focuses on five programs, to help not only their clients, but the community as well.

“I don’t know if everybody knows all the lines of service that we have here,” Julie Godsey, NCS HR manager, said. “… The ultimate goal of these programs is for the individuals we support to live their best lives.

Programs

Community Living empowers individuals to live the life they choose. NCS supports 30-plus individuals between three group homes and seven independent supported living locations. Supports include community activities, daily house tasks, meal planning and prepping, and medical assistance.

Service Coordination improves the quality of life for others through planning, advocating, linking and monitoring. NCS has provided case management services to individuals in seven counties in northwest Missouri since 2012.

Behavior Services provides individualized support to reduce challenging behaviors and help individuals live their best quality of life by building skills socially significant to them.

Support Employment focuses on inclusive employment providing customized pathways to develop job skills and identify real work at a competitive wage for people with developmental disabilities.

“We provide a job coach,” Godsey said. “… then we look for businesses in town that will help us do supported employment. We do work with a few businesses here in town and it’s great.” NCS takes clients through all the steps of employment from resumes and interviews to what to wear and how to talk to their manager.

Community Support empowers and promotes independent living through skill development and building community connections. “We use our community resources and try and get them integrated into the community, so they’re able to do that on their own,” Godsey said, noting that they help clients to do things as independently as possible, such as going to buy coffee at The Perk or make their way to the beach at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. In an effort to offer more for their clients, the organization is amid construction of a new building across Lieber Street.

The new facility will be dedicated to providing help for clients, whether teaching them how to cook something or manage a kitchen to how to do laundry, the new building will offer space for those types of activities as well as larger group events and meetings.

“We have a lot of weekly activities, at least one a week if not more. … and sometimes they want to invite their friends or family. As a company, we like to get together a couple times a year and do stuff, so that’ll help with having to find somewhere to rent,” Godsey said.

Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, the nonprofit is trying to give back to the community, by way of donating $250,000 worth of inclusive playground equipment to the Sisson-Eek Park on Lincoln Street. The park is under construction now, but plans to open on July 9 after a ribbon cutting scheduled for 4 p.m.

“We’ve got a lot of fun stuff that’s gonna happen,” Godsey said.

Learn more about Nodaway County Services by visiting them online at aghncs.org.