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History
Innisfree was founded in 1971 when
a group of parents decided they wanted a bright future
for their sons and daughters with mental disabilities.
We are especially grateful to parents, Gerald and
Henrietta Luria and original Director, Heinz Kramp,
for their vision and dedication. More than 30 years later, Innisfree is a stable, therapeutic
alternative to institutional or group home living. We
are a charitable organization with a 501(c)(3) status.
Initially housed in a 200-year-old farmhouse, we now live
in eight modern, family-style homes around a one-mile
loop in the center of 550 acres with stunning views of
Virginias Blue Ridge Mountains. We are home to 39
coworkers (or adults with mental disabilities), 12 full-time
residential volunteers, and 12 support staff.
Our Mission
Innisfree,
a voluntary community with adults with mental disabilities, is dedicated to
providing a life-sharing home and work environment in an atmosphere of beauty,
warmth, and respectfulness. All community members are valued, and all are
encouraged to explore a meaningful and challenging life.
Innisfree shall -----
1. Be a model therapeutic environment with people
with mental disabilities, emphasizing empowerment,
interdependence, and mutual respect of all community
members.
2. Evolve with the changing needs of the
individuals with mental disabilities within the Village
community and beyond.
3. Value work and foster creativity through
artistic crafts, stewardship of the land, and daily
community life.
4.
Promote efforts in the stewardship of our land to
acknowledge the reciprocal relationship between our human
health and our natural environment.
5.
Encourage the integration of our community members into
the larger society
through participation in cultural,
educational, recreational, religious, and volunteer
programs.
6. Rely for its financial resources upon family
support, the spirit of volunteerism, and private funding.
7. Support and encourage the talents and
individuality of community members from diverse
educational, national, ethnic and social backgrounds.
Innisfree, incorporated in 1971, is a nonprofit
corporation governed by a Board of Directors. While the
business of the corporation and its finances shall be
dealt with exclusively by the Board of the Corporation,
the desires and opinions of the Village community shall be
solicited, expressed and represented by participation on
the Board and Board Committees. Flexibility in the manner
of control and direction by the Board should be the norm.
Open communication shall be maintained among all those
responsible for the administration of the Village and its
everyday life.
Things
We Make
At Innisfree, coworkers and volunteers
participate side by side in a variety of workstations.
We are proud of the beautiful, delicious, or practical
results of our hard work. Our gardens produce vegetables,
fruit, flowers, and herbs for the entire community as
well as for sale at local farmers markets. In our bakery
you'll find loaves of fresh bread (sesame oat, onion
dill, cinnamon raisin, and honey whole wheat) as well
as cookies, scones, and our famous granola, that is
for sale at many local stores. Our most popular items
in the weavery are our placemats, baby blankets and chenille scarves. In the
woodshop we make cutting boards, end tables and decorative boxes. The
weavery and woodshop items are sold in our store and at various local retail
shops. We have a pottery studio
where coworkers and volunteers can tap into their artistic
energies. In the community center kitchen, we prepare
a wholesome lunch for the entire village (about 60 people).
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World Artisans
Store
Innisfree World Artisans is a fair-trade store founded
in May 1998 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Fair-trade
stores sell products made only by people working under
safe, equitable conditions. The store is a project of
Innisfree Village, a non-profit community with adults
with mental disabilities. All proceeds from the store
benefit Innisfree Village. Innisfree World Artisans
sells handcrafted items from Innisfree Villages
weavery, woodshop, and bakery, as well as self-help
crafts from low-income artisans around the world. The
store maintains a commitment to provide fair wages and
employment opportunities for disadvantaged peoples.
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| Board
of Directors |
Board |
Carolyn Ohle, Executive
Director |
Harvey Laub |
| Wes Andrews, Assistant
Director |
Cindy
Westley |
|
James Kimsey |
| Officers |
Geri Schirmer |
| Craig Dreilinger, President |
Nancy Chappell |
| Barbara Fried, Chairman |
Wes
Kitchens |
| Rich DeMong, Vice
President |
Keith Lewis |
| Greg McDonough, Treasurer |
Trisha
Costello |
| Frank McDonough, Secretary |
Thomas
Nicholson |
| Krissy Lasagna, Recording Secretary |
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| Melinda Robinson,
Asst. Recording Secretary |
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2008 Board Meetings
March 15th @ 10:30 am
June 8th @ 10:30 am
October 14th @ 10:30 am
December 13th @ 10:30 am
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| Staff |
Carolyn
Ohle,
Executive Director,
first came to Innisfree in 1976 as a volunteer. She
has a bachelor's degree in special education and
psychology from Ohio University. After years as the
head of the weavery, she became the community
coordinator and later the Executive Director. In
1996 she returned to graduate school for a Master's
degree in Genetic Counseling from Virginia
Commonwealth University's Medical College of
Virginia. She returned to the village in December
2004 from her position as a Genetic Counselor at the
University of Virginia to become the Executive
Director for a second term.
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Wes Andrews, Assistant
Director, first came to Innisfree
in 1985 as a volunteer. He was born in Burma (now
Myanmar), but was raised in England. He had worked
as a psychiatric nurse in England, in various facilities.
His second year as a volunteer at Innisfree was
in 1988. In 1994 he returned to Innisfree, this
time with a family: Megan, born in 1989, and Aaron
in 1991. They were lucky enough to win the green
card lottery and are able to permanently live
and work in the United States. He was trained as
the financial officer in 1996 and moved into the
position of assistant director in 2000, continuing
in his financial work. Wes has a home in Afton and
likes tennis and soccer.
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Nancy
Chappell came to
Innisfree in 1992 as a volunteer. She and her son,
Alex, lived in five houses in five years here in the
village. Nancy was the U.S. Coordinator for
SCI-International Voluntary Service from 1992 to
1995. This meant that she had house and village
duties, but worked in the SCI office instead of the
workstations. Nancy has been involved in
international volunteer work most of her adult life,
working in Chicago, Northern Ireland, and Sierra
Leone. She earned a BA in geography from Temple
University in Philadelphia. Nancy's responsibilities
have evolved over the years; now she recruits,
trains, and guides volunteers, serves on the board
and is House Manager. Nancy enjoys budget travel,
and amateur singing and acting. She and her son
Alex, live in Magnolia, one of two Innisfree
houses in Charlottesville. |
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Izrael
"Iz" Zak
came to Innisfree with his wife, Leigh Sato, in
1996. He has a BA in sociology from Rutgers University
and is a certified Feldenkreis practitioner. Iz
was born in USSR (now Uzbekistan), lived in France
until he was 12 years old, and then moved to New
York City. His work at Innisfree is twofold. One
part is running a fitness program that includes
coordinating Special Olympics events and working
out with coworkers at the Fried gym. The other part
is as a financial assistant, recording all incoming
monies and maintaining various databases. Leigh
and Iz are the busy parents of Gabriel and Ilo. Iz enjoys sports and reading.
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