Opportunity Village Clients Learned How to Exercise their Right to Vote to Prepare for the Upcoming Election
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2016
Opportunity Village Clients Learned How to Exercise their Right to Vote to Prepare for the Upcoming Election
Click to tweet: (http://ctt.ec/5jBUc) .@OppVillageLV OVIPs learned how to exercise their right to vote to prepare for the upcoming election #votingrights #Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Throughout January and February, OVIPs at Opportunity Village learned how to exercise their right to vote. In partnership with the Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center (NDALC) and the Clark County Election Department, voting machines were brought to each of the four Opportunity Village campuses and the Opportunity Village Thrift Store, where OVIPs were educated on the voting system and election process, and had the chance to practice voting.
These educational practice sessions were hosted by the A Team Nevada Chapters, which consists of more than 250 active members who are people with disabilities advocating preserving choices in employment, home and living, and recreation. The organization’s goal is to advocate, improve awareness and offer peer advisement.
Opportunity Village is dedicated to providing individuals with intellectual disabilities the programs and services necessary to assist them in their journey to independence and becoming integrated members of the community.
Photo 1:
On January 20, the Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center (NDALC) and the Clark County Election Department educated Opportunity Village OVIPs about voting and how to use voting machines at the Opportunity Village Ralph & Betty Engelstad Campus.
Photo 2:
On January 20, an Opportunity Village OVIP was shown how to cast her vote in a mock election by a Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center (NDALC) representative at the Opportunity Village Ralph & Betty Engelstad Campus.
Photo 3:
On January 27, Opportunity Village OVIPs learned how to use voting machines and practiced voting in a mock election held at the Opportunity Village Thrift Store.
About Opportunity Village
Mission: Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization that serves people within our community with significant intellectual disabilities, to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
Opportunity Village was founded in 1954 by seven families who were determined to give their children with disabilities the best lives possible. Now, more than 60 years later, Opportunity Village is one of the most recognized and respected organizations of its type in the United States.
Nevada’s largest employer of people with disabilities (who we call OVIPs), Opportunity Village serves nearly 3,000 individuals annually, providing vocational training, employment, habilitation and social recreation programs and services that make their lives more purposeful and interesting.
Opportunity Village citizens – individuals who were previously considered unemployable – work at Opportunity Village’s Employment Resource Centers and in jobs throughout the community, collectively earning wages amounting to more than $3.9 million in 2014. They are hard-working and diligent, proudly paying taxes and happily leading more fulfilling lives.
Primarily a self-funded organization, Opportunity Village generates the majority of its operational funding through its employment contracts and fundraising efforts such as the Magical Forest and Great Santa Run, saving Nevada taxpayers nearly $35 million annually.
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