Trillium Services Inc.

01/20/2026

Trillium Services is proud to announce Yodit Gidey as one of our Employee of the Month Winners!

Yodit has worked at Trillium for 11 years. She is devoted, genuine, and caring. Yodit is always up for a challenge. She has played and instrumental role in ensuring the people she works with get to experience the best in life. From planning dream trips to making someone's birthday extra special, she does it all!

Yodit is someone who truly cares about the people she supports. She helps them focus on wellbeing as well as independence, while also making things fun.

Yodit provides encouragement and support to those she supports and is a strong advocate. She is committed to making sure the people she supports have everything they need.

Yodit, thank you for all you have done over the past 11 years. We truly appreciate your hard work and dedication!

01/14/2026

Trillium Services is proud to announce Rachel Oberholzer as one of our Employee of the Month Winners!

Rachel has worked at Trillium for 2 years. She is honest, caring, and extremely kind. Rachel truly cares about the wants and needs of the people she supports and does an excellent job of offering person centered care while including fun and engaging activities on each shift.

Rachel excels at helping the people she supports work on goals like taking care of their homes and building relationships with others. Everyone she works with has a great time with her and wonders when they will be working with her next.

Rachel, you are valued member of the Family Services and Connections team! Thank you for your hard work and dedication. We appreciate everything you do!

01/09/2026

Contact Melissa if you are interested in tickets. mweber@trilliumservice.com or (218)722-5009

01/06/2026

01/05/2026

Are you interested in joining us in March to attend the rally and speak with our representatives?

Contact Melissa at mweber@trilliumservices.com or (218)722-5009.

01/02/2026

Planned communities for people with intellectual disabilities are often sold as progress. They come with glossy brochures and careful language: safety, belonging, independence, “community.”

And I understand the appeal. Families are tired of waiting lists, crisis placements, and broken supports. When the system fails this badly, anything stable can feel like hope.

And yes, there may be people who want to live in a setting like this. Some may prefer being near others or having supports close by. The problem isn’t that this option exists. The problem is what happens when it becomes the option. How many people truly choose this, and how many accept it because other real choices were never built, funded, or offered?

Choice isn’t real when it’s “take this or have nothing.” It isn’t real when individualized supports in ordinary neighbourhoods are unavailable. And it isn’t real when safety is used to justify segregation.

We also need to talk about power. Parents are often the driving force behind planned communities, acting out of deep love, fear, and exhaustion. Their advocacy can move governments and unlock funding in ways their sons and daughters cannot. But this places people with intellectual disabilities in a difficult position: living in environments chosen for them, not always by them. When parental voices dominate planning, self-direction can quietly disappear, even when everyone believes they are doing the right thing.

Planned communities also send a message to the rest of society: “Don’t worry. We’ve taken care of them.” It relieves the neighbourhood, the employer, and the community from having to learn how to include. It allows exclusion to remain intact, and simply builds an alternate world for the people who are excluded.

But inclusion is not a disability service. Inclusion is a community responsibility.

We don’t need “a community for them.” We need a world that makes room. That means ordinary homes, individualized supports, flexible funding, and support teams that follow the person rather than buildings that require the person to fit the program.

We already have communities.

What we lack is the will to share them.
..

ID: Image shows plans for a planned community for people with intellectual disabilities in a very isolated location. Text reads: People with intellectual disabilities...? "Don't worry. We've taken care of them."

12/17/2025

Reminder we are still collecting donations until Monday!

12/10/2025

We had the honor of being a part of John's Self Determination Project in the early 2000's. He came up to Trillium to teach us about self-determination, advocacy, and disability rights. He was an impactful trainer and we are grateful to have known him and to see his philosophy reflected in our day to day work. He will be greatly missed.

A celebration of life for John Good Smith will be held on Saturday, December 20, 2025. Visitation begins at 9:30 a.m., followed by a 10:30 a.m. service at Spirit Catholic Community in Minneapolis. The service will include a Liturgy of the Word, a Liturgy of the Eucharist, prayers, songs, and an opportunity for sharing stories. Lunch will be served after the service.

Spirit Catholic Community is located in the New Branches building at 5011 31st Avenue S, Minneapolis. The service will also be livestreamed on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/live/iV31tSa6D6M

If you require accommodations, please email finalblessingsmn@gmail.com or phone 612-888-0462.

12/09/2025

It doesn’t have to be this way, Amy S. Hewitt writes.