Jamie Killin | Contributing Writer GOMPERS Developing opportunities for people with disabilities THE CAUSE Gompers empowers people with disabilities — from children to seniors — with a wide variety of programs that range from transportation and in- home services to school and employment services. “We serve a very wide population in terms of both age and disability level,” said president and CEO Mark Jacoby. “I do think that sets us apart and makes us unique.” Not only does Gompers offer a plethora of services, the organization’s approach is unique. “We have 500 individuals with disabilities and we don’t talk a lot about people’s disabilities,” said Jacoby. “What we talk about are people’s abilities. In my mind, when you talk about somebody who has disabilities, you start with what they can’t do, and when you start with abilities, you start with what they can do.” Through Gompers’ programs, members are realizing more of their abilities than ever, with members finding employment, becoming increasingly independent and even experiencing some critical ‘firsts’ many of us take for granted — like attending their first baseball game or catching their first fish. Gompers is shifting the narrative by helping people with disabilities find their place in the world, one that’s alongside everyone else. Through advances in programming and approach, the organization is helping to lead the way in how society views people with disabilities — which is becoming increasingly understanding. “People with disabilities should not be treated any differently than you and I,” said Jacoby. “The services that we provide have to continually transform and shift in order to keep up with that mindset.” THE STORY Gompers is now a multi-location organization serving hundreds of members annually, but when it got its start more than 70 years ago, it was still a small grassroots nonprofit. CHARITY SPOTLIGHT {giving back} 38 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | DECEMBER 2018

For more than 72 years, Gompers has provided services to people with disabilities, helping them achieve their highest level of independence and productivity. “It started the same way a lot of other organizations like us started, which is a bunch of parents coming together saying, ‘I can’t find services for my kid. We’re going to do this on our own,’” Jacoby said. It wasn’t until years later that the organization found its first home, thanks to the generosity of union workers who banded their donations together. “Legend has it that several hundred if not thousand members of the union donated an hour’s pay to our organization,” said Jacoby. “That was really the only way that we were able to start our first campus.” In return, the union asked that the organization name the campus or itself after Samuel Gompers — the first president of the American Federation of Labor, hence the name Gompers still has today. Gompers continued to grow, opening its current Phoenix campus two decades ago, then its employment services campus a decade ago, and most recently, its third Peoria location last year through the acquisition of the Blythe Center Campus. THE FUTURE Moving forward, Gompers will continue to focus on programs that are making an impact on the lives of nearly all of its members — like the employment services program and assistive DECEMBER 2018 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 39