Dyer, UNA does everything now in
its power to help its clients maintain
as much independence as possible.
tion, individuals with developmental
disabilities were kept in an institu-
tion," he said. "And there was a
movement to move people into the
community...we have been part of a
new philosophy and the philosophy
that our board is about is a philoso-
phy where individuals own homes of
their own whenever possible or at
least have that option."
UNA-owned residencies in Wicom-
ico County, lets them keep an im-
portant feeling of independence,
Dyer told the council.
ed in Salisbury.
out $2.6 million in salaries and well
over 90 percent of those salaries
and of that revenue was right here
in Wicomico County and in Salis-
bury," Dyer said.
provide "as much assistance as you
need or as little assistance as you
independence can't be maintained,
Dyer added that UNA can help
clients find other living options.
Finally, UNA offers a program called
"Low-Intensity Support Services"
where up to $3,000 per year could
be provided to a developmentally
disabled individual who isn't using
any of UNA's other services.
for minor things like the installation
of ramps and other minor amenities.
Taking care of little expenses early
can keep them from snowballing in-
to major problems, he told the coun-
cil.
needing something that would be
much more expensive," said Dyer.
independence philosophy, Dyer not-
ed the huge increase in clients who
live in their own homes.
homes. At the end of June 30 [of
this year], there were 39 individu-
als," he reported. "So we've had a
333-percent increase over four
years in the number of individuals."
briefing the council on her organiza-
tion's effort to re-brand. Back when
people never realized the non-profit
could help with more than just epil-
epsy cases.
were people out there who could
have needed our services," she
said, "and perhaps could have used
our services but had no idea what
we did."
new logo and new sign will be un-
veiled in the near future, said Palmer.
impressed with UNA and eager to
help spread the word.
doing and ask a few questions and
that will lead," he said, "I would
hope, into new partnerships in our
community."
hearing it firsthand.
I didn't realize until my first meeting
with you how broad the range is of
services you provide to the commu-
nity," Day said.
Laura Mitchell invited UNA back to
update the council on their progress.
ing through an extensive re-brand-
ing campaign and appeared before
the Salisbury City Council this week
to spread the word about their orga-
nization's efforts and new look.
council Monday about what his
group does in Salisbury, including
its history. For most of its three dec-
ades, UNA was known as the Epil-
epsy Association of the Eastern
Shore (EAES). Dyer admitted that
the name pigeonholed his organiza-
tion to a degree and made people
believe that they only focused on
individuals with epilepsy.
Very soon into that we realized that
there was a great need to help peo-
ple with other developmental dis-
abilities, various ones, and from that
point forward we've been serving
people with developmental disabili-
ties," he said.
on providing support and potentially
living accommodations for those
with developmental disabilities.
However, like the agency's name,
it's "philosophy" has changed in the