SVECares grant means meaningful work 
for the clients of Exceptional Enterprises, Inc.

Left: The rug cleaning service is a very popular and useful service for area businesses. Right: Clients in the laundry facility are shown folding laundry to be delivered to local businesses.

During their November meeting the SVECares board allocated $2000 to Exceptional Enterprises, Inc. in Coalmont. 

The mission of the private, non-profit organization which serves clients from Grundy, Marion and Sequatchie counties is “to provide services which enhance the quality of life for persons with mental retardation/developmental disabilities thorough the promotion of each individual’s independence, productivity and integration into the community.”

Their clients must be at least 22 years of age and must have an IQ of 69 or below. State law requires that the school system train such individuals until they are 22 years of age but many leave the system at 18 and are often “lost” before reaching the age of 22 when they can enter a facility such as Exceptional Enterprises. At present in Tennessee there is a waiting list of over 4200 individuals who need to be placed. 

According to Bill Lingle, executive director of the center, “We are giving meaningful work and a sense of pride to people who might otherwise just be left at home in the care of family without fulfilling their potential.” 

The clients at the center do run a laundry facility which provides services to a number of area restaurants, health facilities and other businesses, They clean entrance rugs for local businesses and do the pick up and delivery work for the laundry. Another group of clients do piece work for Dunlap Industries assembling spools which hold the zippers made by that industry. The clients are paid for their services which gives them a source of independence and pride and lends dignity to their lives.

The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation in the past few years has mandated that the State Mental Institutions begin helping people find homes in less institutional setting in an effort to return these people to the areas where they were born and have family. 
As a result Exceptional Enterprises contracts to the state to provide these services as well. 

The center is governed by a volunteer board of directors and receives no money from the county government. That is why this grant to expand their laundry to accommodate more clients is so important to continue providing opportunities to bring purpose and meaning to so many lives.

Ways that you can help Exceptional Enterprises are:
• Use their laundry/rug service
• Help organize and execute EEI fund raisers
• Encourage others who could benefit from their services.
• Provide contract work (If you own an area business)
• Make tax deductible donations to Exceptional Enterprises, Inc. (a 501©(3) tax exempt organization)

For more information visit their website at web.infoave.net/~excenter/.

Back to SVECares Allocations Page