MISSION

The Polus Center for Social & Economic Development, Inc. strives to create opportunities for persons with disabilities and members of other vulnerable groups to become valued citizens within their communities.

The word “Polus” is of Latin origin and means the highest point, suggesting reaching for the ideal. The name invokes people being at their best by helping each other and welcoming one another into a meaningful community life.

The Polus Center is a non-profit umbrella organization that designs and implements community-based programs in the United States and throughout the developing world.

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

International Programs
Polus began working internationally in 1997 in Nicaragua and we have now expanded to Ethiopia, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. These collaborative efforts have resulted in two community-based prosthetic outreach projects, an accessibility project, a disabilities leadership center, a regional wheelchair manufacturing project, and a series of capacity-building mini-grants to local organizations and individuals. We use a locally-based, holistic approach to insure that project beneficiaries are the ones driving services forward and broad support is created in the community where they live.

Shared Living
Our individualized shared living programs throughout Massachusetts, USA, help establish and support households where people with and without disabilities live in mutually beneficial relationships, enabling people with disabilities to live and work within the community. Because of this innovative alternative service model, many individuals who would have spent years in institutional care are now competitively employed and have homes in the communities of their choice.

Social and Economic Opportunities
We support employment services such as CBA, a small community based organization in Boston, that enables adults with disabilities to maintain valued work roles. The Petersham Country Store in the U.S. and the Ben Linder Café in Nicaragua foster communitybuilding and provide jobs, with profits supporting Walking Unidos and other Polus initiatives. We work with people who have disabilities and grassroots organizations to create meaningful income-generating initiatives.

Training and Consulting
Polus uses a comprehensive person-centered planning process that brings together project beneficiaries to identify their own needs and priorities. We have worked with dozens of grassroots organizations to help them plan and implement economic and social inclusion projects. We also offer a variety of social skills and business development training.

Headlines

Sharing The News - Spring 2007 (PDF, 292k)

Video: Diving Too Deep
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"As scientists warn of an alarming decline in ocean resources, Current's Mariana van Zeller travels to the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua where the depletion of lobsters is forcing local divers to take ever greater risks to earn a living."