Project Focus is a non-profit foundation established to provide programs and services through a unique learning community to assist young adults with disabilities to connect with each other and integrate into the larger community in order to live their best lives. The foundation benefits the existing programs of Focus Academy, as well as new and future initiatives for young adults with developmental disabilities.
As we build on our success and look to the future, your help is needed in funding these exciting programs:
- Focus Academy: Established in 2013, Focus Academy provides an innovative charter high school program for students 14 to 22 that infuses social skills therapies into the curriculum. All students participate in drama therapy and in visual and performing arts classes, as well as strong academic classes that are tailored to individual learning needs.
- Transition Program: The Transition Program builds on the success of the high school, providing students that have completed 12th grade additional training in job skills and independent living skills.
- Focus Café: Located inside the Temple Terrace Family Recreation Complex, the Café is a fully functioning non-profit business offering beverages and snacks to patrons and the public. It is staffed by Focus Academy Transition Program students, who learn valuable skills such as inventory, customer service, using a cash register, and more.
- Focus Forward: With a planned early 2020 opening, Focus Forward extends the timeline for young adults with disabilities to increase their employability by offering on and off campus daily work activities. The program is geared toward young adults aged 22 years and up.
- Future residential community: A final planned phase of the Focus family of projects is an integrated living community, which will include supported and independent living areas for developmentally disabled adults to call home. Project Focus is establishing a fund earmarked for the purchase of real estate for this goal.