NAPLES — STARability Foundation is pleased to announce it has received a $30,000 grant from the Collier Community Foundation to expand its vocational services programming for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“We are extremely grateful for the continued support of the Collier Community Foundation,” said Karen Govern, the CEO of STARability Foundation. “This generous grant will allow us to expand our services, providing more of our STARs with the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to reach their professional goals.”

The Collier Community Foundation grant will allow for 15 additional individuals to participate in the program. The grant will also help fund STARability’s Career Camp program, which provides high school students with intellectual and development disabilities with training opportunities, job shadowing and field trips, and the Jr. Entrepreneurs initiative, a program aimed at participants enrolled in the Junior Trailblazer Academy focused on product development, pricing and sales.

Through STARability’s Vocational Services, participants learn job skills, explore career opportunities and find employment with businesses who believe in their abilities. As an approved provider for the Florida Department of Education Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), STARability also offers job readiness services and connects individuals not enrolled in its programs with inclusive employers and job training sites throughout the Naples community.

The Collier Community Foundation awards annual grants through a competitive application and review process. Selected organizations receive grant dollars from the Community Impact Fund. This Fund is made up of donors who believe in the Community Foundation’s ability to identify and grant to the community’s most current needs.

STARability offers a variety of innovative, results-driven programs designed to accommodate the needs of each unique participant through teaching life skills, providing vocational training and connecting participants to the community through meaningful and fulfilling social experiences.

To learn more about STARability’s life-transforming programs, visit STARability.org.