Program spotlight: JFS Disability Services

JFS offers various support services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the Denver metro area. We believe relationships and community are critical to the well-being of all adults, and our programs include advocacy, social interaction, recreation, job development, and more—all with a person-centered approach.

Program Descriptions

Our Arts and Community Exploration (ACE) program centers around healthy lifestyles and mindfulness through art, exercise, and nutrition at our Calvary Baptist Church location and throughout the community. Activities include art projects, cooking classes, visits to local art galleries/studios, museums, nature centers, recreation centers, and other downtown adventures. Participants stay active through meaningful connections and are empowered to learn new skills, develop relationships, and engage safely in their community.

The Best Buddies program matches Jewish adults with IDD with neurotypical adults who become their peer buddies. These one-to-one relationships aim to create deeper friendships that reduce social isolation and foster connections to the Colorado Jewish community and each other.

Last year by the numbers . . .

73 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities received a variety of support services and participated in inclusion activities.

25 clients supported through the JDA Haverim program and 13 inclusion partners helped raise awareness and further inclusion of people with disabilities within Jewish organizations and the larger Jewish community.

80% of participants have been with the ACE program for more than five years.

For individuals with IDD working toward a long-term goal of individualized employment and needing experience working in an integrated environment that supports job skill development and regular interaction with their non-disabled co-workers, JFS Disability Employment Services is ready with opportunities. Our Cardinal Health worksite provides experiences shared as part of small group employment worksite crews.

JFS Jewish Disabilities Advocates program (JDA) consists of two complementary initiatives. The first serves adults with IDD and provides programming and coordinates resources to counter experiences of isolation with ongoing relationships and full participation of Jewish people with IDD in the Jewish community. The second initiative is comprised of Denver and Boulder synagogues and Jewish communal agencies, known as Inclusion Sites, which foster, advocate for, and support disability awareness and inclusion to ensure Jews with disabilities can participate in rich Jewish life and culture. Our team works with synagogues to build ramps, make fidget toys available during services, and offer virtual service options for participants who cannot go to synagogue due to health issues.

The Disability Services team has created long-term relationships throughout the community with our programs. “We’ve worked hard to be a part of the community, empower our clients to create friendships, and develop their own relationships outside of JFS with volunteering and building self-confidence,” said JFS Director of Disability Services Roxane Miller-Freutel. “Our programs are person-centered with goals for participants to run their own lives, make choices, and develop employment skills. We want them to experience things in life that they may not have otherwise done, such as bike riding, paddleboarding, visiting the stock show, and shopping for their families for the holidays. With our participants, we also share what rights they have, such as the right to vote and the right to choose. That's a huge part of what we do on a daily basis.”

What’s Next

The team is working on a grant to pilot an integrated adaptive bike program in Douglas County. This initiative will launch a program to provide adaptive bikes, equipment, bike and trail education, and riding instruction to adults with IDD who are 18 and older, which is very exciting.

Jewish Disability Advocate Advisor Erica Baruch is also giving a presentation at the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies conference in May to talk about how we developed our JDA program.

Stay up to date on our Disability Services programs and services.