Today we’d like to introduce you to Keri Goff.
Hi Keri, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our mission is to provide persons with disabilities with innovative services and opportunities to achieve personal success. We are dedicated to building communities supporting members of all abilities in finding meaningful purpose and reaching their highest potential. The history and growth of the Brevard Achievement Center is a story of opportunity for people with disabilities. As the District Director for Vocational Rehabilitation in 1967, Bill Cox was forced to drive across the state to use St. Petersburg facilities to evaluate, train and provide work experience for adults with disabilities from Brevard County. Cox diligently worked to illustrate the needs of people with disabilities, and on February 8, 1968, Brevard County Community Achievement Center (BCCAC) was born. Led by Ammon G. Belleman, Jr., the local IBM general manager, BCCAC’s first Board created the following goals:
- Build dignity and self-respect for persons with disabilities.
- Make taxpayers out of tax users.
- Prevent institutionalization for many people.
- Return the community at least part of the cost of serving persons with disabilities by developing economically valuable members of society to reduce dependence.
Donald Swickert, BCCAC’s first Executive Director, and a team of three staff members served seven clients in what became a permanent location at 1845 Cogswell Street in Rockledge, where Brevard Achievement Center (as it was renamed in 1975) still is headquartered today. Today BAC has grown to a premier agency providing employment and empowerment programs designed to help more than 3,500 people with unique abilities annually achieve as much independence and personal success as possible. Forging key corporate partnerships and working with the AbilityOne Program, the enterprise now offers employment opportunities to more than 650 people at federal contract sites across Florida, Puerto Rico, Virginia, and North Carolina. BAC’s longstanding partnership with Brevard Public Schools allows BAC to reach out to students with disabilities to help them plan for the future. The commitment of BAC’s founders, parents, dedicated staff employees, and numerous volunteers has played a critical role in forming its quality programs and services. This legacy of service and commitment is instilled in the organization. It is seen daily in how BAC serves its participants, business partners, customers, families, and, ultimately, its mission.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every day, BAC does more than provide employment and empowerment opportunities to individuals with disabilities. We help inspire dreams in thousands throughout the Southeast US and beyond. The vision of our leadership team and board of directors is focused on the programs and initiatives that will build a community where people of all abilities and all citizens can experience the pride that comes with being as independent, resourceful, and self-reliant as possible a vision that hopes to change lives for the better. As with any vision of change, many obstacles have occurred over our 55-year history.
When BAC was founded in 1968, it was common practice that when individuals with disabilities graduated high school, their only option was institutionalization. Considering that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was not signed into law until 1990, there were many physical and perceptual obstacles for an agency promoting the employment of individuals with disabilities. Still today, BAC advocates for good and optimal employment for people of all abilities. While there have been great strides in changing the perception of looking to an underutilized workforce, there is still much to be done before we have a truly inclusive and integrated workforce. Even in this economy, the unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities aged 16-64 is about 30%. A staggering five or six times higher than that of the non-disabled workforce.
We’ve been impressed with BAC (Brevard Achievement Center), but for folks who might need to be more familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We do more so our customers can do more than they ever imagined. BAC’s dedicated team of professionals provides a comprehensive range of solutions designed to meet the specific needs of our military, government, and commercial customers. We follow industry best practices to meet high-quality standards across all of our contracts; we are one of only 250 companies nationwide CIMS-Green Building certified and one of the few to hold the CIMS-GB with Honors certification. From growing a performance work statement to better meet emerging needs to customizing our production line to serve new products, our teams are committed to providing our new and future customers the best possible support.
We are a proud participating nonprofit within the AbilityOne program, which harnesses the purchasing power of the federal government to employ people who are blind or have significant disabilities across the US. Through AbilityOne, BAC provides the best-value services for our federal customers while using hundreds of people with disabilities across contracts in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Puerto Rico; offering competitive wages and excellent benefits, BAC’s AbilityOne careers empower our employees with disabilities to lead more productive and independent lives.
Aside from our employment opportunities, BAC provides employment training and enrichment services to over 3,500 individuals annually. We customize our service offering to meet the unique, personal needs of each participant we work with and partner closely with local businesses to provide well-matched potential employees to fulfill their hiring needs. Our focus is on the whole person, providing a well-rounded set of program offerings to address many of our participants’ employment, empowerment, cultural and recreational needs.
Contact Info:
- Website: bacemploy.com
- Instagram: bacemploy
- Facebook: bacemploy
- Linkedin: bacemploy
