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About Us Search is a large and growing family of more than 450 consumers, 227 staff members, and 33 program locations stretching from the southwest side of Chicago to the northern suburbs of Waukegan and Mt. Prospect. A community-based non-profit, Search has been at the forefront of providing unparalleled services for adults with developmental disabilities for over 40 years. Our programs include around-the-clock supported living, full or part-time adult learning, community-based and in-house vocational services, as well as recreation services, offering day trips to fun destinations locally, and Search for Adventure, our unique extended travel program. We also provide Home-Based Support Service Facilitation for families with this kind of funding. We are experienced and certified. Search, Inc. is licensed by the Illinois Department of Human Services and is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). CARF accreditation means Search has passed an in-depth review of its services. It is your assurance that we meet rigorous guidelines for service and quality -- an endorsement that Search conforms to nationally and internationally recognized service standards and is focused on delivering the most favorable results for you. We are all about empowering people. Search, Inc. is a community-based non-profit providing personalized support services for adults with developmental disabilities. Our vision is a world where people with developmental disabilities live, learn, work and play alongside everybody else as valued members of the community. We have a compelling mission and strong values. Search's mission is to empower persons with developmental disabilities to achieve their full potential, accept a valued role in their community, and lead rich, rewarding lives. We fulfill this mission by living our values:
We are financially solid and self-reliant. By focusing on fundamental business principles we're able to sustain our mission over the long-term, ensuring consistently high quality services. This is a choice Search makes so that our consumers continue to have the opportunities that they expect and deserve. We also have a strong social enterprise arm, including the earned-income ventures Planet Access Company and A Better Clean. The profits generated from these Search owned and operated businesses help make programs like Search for Adventure possible. We have a long, dynamic history of success. Search began more than 40 years ago as a small program to provide an education for children with developmental disabilities living in Cabrini-Green. Quite a few of those kids, now adults, have remained members of the Search family throughout the years and continue to flourish.
Search's History and Milestones People are shaped by their experiences. The same is true of organizations. For Search, three key events helped define who we are today: Search was founded in 1968 by a group of parents in Cabrini-Green. Determined to secure a quality education for their children with developmental disabilities, they began Search's first program, an alternative school for 50 kids. In 1985, Search began transitioning from a school for kids into a community-based non-profit for adults with developmental disabilities. We opened our first developmental training center, serving an impoverished section of Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. 1985 also marked the opening of our inaugural group home in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. In the summer of 1996, the State closed a large residential facility for adults with developmental disabilities. The facility had a well known history of neglectful and even abusive treatment practices. In a span of only five months Search purchased, renovated, staffed and opened nine group homes for 56 individuals displaced by the closure. Today, Search annually serves more than 450 adults with developmental disabilities, with programs in 33 locations in Chicago and the northern suburbs. Our programs now include around-the-clock supported living, full or part-time adult learning, community-based and in-house vocational services, as well as recreation services, offering day trips to fun destinations locally and Search for Adventure, our unique extended travel program. We also provide Home-Based Support Service Facilitation for families with this kind of funding. |