Toward Independence, Inc.

Toward Independence, Inc. Toward Independence, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals with developmental disabilities

02/17/2026

Direct support professionals play a vital role in helping people with developmental disabilities thrive. Here's some advice to help you grow, stay connected, and use your voice with confidence as a DSP! โญ

๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŸ ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐š๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐†๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ ๐“๐จ๐ ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐€๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐œ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž & ๐‡๐ฒ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐œ๐ฌ ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ž๐ง ๐‡๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž!Weโ€™re excited to share that the even...
02/17/2026

๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŸ ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐š๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐†๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ ๐“๐จ๐ ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐€๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐œ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž & ๐‡๐ฒ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐œ๐ฌ ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ž๐ง ๐‡๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž!

Weโ€™re excited to share that the event was a huge success, with ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ“ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญs joining us, including community members, donors, local media, and public officials. It was an honor to welcome Greene County Commissioners Sarah Mays, Greene County Commissioner, City Councilman Wesley Smith, and Magistrate Heather Shannon for Greene Co. Probate Judge

Guests toured our systems, learned how the program works, and heard directly from staff and participants about the real-world impact. Grow Together supports vocational learning, skill-building, and meaningful engagement for individuals with developmental disabilities, while also producing fresh, locally grown products that are donated to One Bistro Xenia, Coffee Hub Ohio, and Greene County FISH Pantry. ๐ŸŒฟ

One of the highlights of the day was our client tour guides Cody, Mia, Marc, Nate, and Anna, who helped lead tours, explain the systems, and share their experiences. They did a fantastic job welcoming visitors and showing what the program is all about. Opportunities like this build confidence, communication skills, and real job experience.

This program has been years in the making. Former CEO Mark Schlater first launched the hydroponics vision with a long-term goal of adding aquaculture, and last Friday, that vision officially became reality. What an amazing milestone!

Our Current CEO, Josphe Harmon, shared during the event:

โ€œ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด! ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด, ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜Ÿ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ขโ€™๐˜ด โ€˜๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญโ€™ ๐˜ข๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต!โ€

Thank you to everyone who came out to support, learn, and celebrate with us. More growth ahead! ๐ŸŒฑ

Greene County Board of Developmental Disabilities Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services Miami County Board of Developmental Disabilities Darke County Board of Developmental Disabilities Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Health Care Association

๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ‘‘ ๐€๐ง ๐Ÿ–๐ŸŽ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ! ๐Ÿ‘‘๐ŸŽ‰This week, we had the joy of celebrating one of our amazing individuals in Greene Cou...
02/12/2026

๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ‘‘ ๐€๐ง ๐Ÿ–๐ŸŽ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ! ๐Ÿ‘‘๐ŸŽ‰

This week, we had the joy of celebrating one of our amazing individuals in Greene County as he turned 80 years young! And for the day, he truly was King, complete with smiles, laughter, and a celebration fit for royalty.

Friends and staff came together to make the day unforgettable. There was plenty of cake ๐Ÿฐ, music ๐ŸŽถ, and of course, all the attention that a birthday King deserves! Seeing him light up with joy reminded us why we love what we do every day, supporting incredible people as they live their best lives.

Milestones like this are more than just a birthday; theyโ€™re a celebration of a life full of experiences, friendships, and memories. Weโ€™re honored to be a part of this journey and to share in the joy of such special moments.

Hereโ€™s to 80 years of life, laughter, and love, and to many more moments where our King can reign supreme! ๐Ÿ‘‘๐Ÿ’›

Toward Independence, Inc. Greene County Board of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Health Care Association

https://youtu.be/ckAP-pWBDLk
01/21/2026

https://youtu.be/ckAP-pWBDLk

In this weekโ€™s update, weโ€™re sharing several exciting developments across Toward Independence.We highlight the new aquaponics system recently completed at ou...

As we reflect on ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง ๐‹๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐Š๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‰๐ซ. ๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ, we are reminded that the fight for civil rights did not end with one moveme...
01/20/2026

As we reflect on ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง ๐‹๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐Š๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‰๐ซ. ๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ, we are reminded that the fight for civil rights did not end with one movement or one moment in history. It continues today in many forms including the ongoing effort to protect and uphold the ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ.

These rights include the right to be respected, to be included in the community, to make personal choices, and to live full, meaningful lives with the supports they need. Disability rights are civil rights, and they are an essential part of the inclusive world Dr. King envisioned.

To help share this message, ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ž๐ ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐š ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ž๐จ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‘ฉ๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘น๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’•๐’” ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐‘ท๐’†๐’๐’‘๐’๐’† ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰ ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’๐’๐’‘๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’•๐’‚๐’ ๐‘ซ๐’Š๐’”๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’†๐’”. This video reinforces these fundamental protections and reminds us that advocacy, awareness, and action matter every day.

People with developmental disabilities are leaders, employees, neighbors, friends, and valued members of our communities. Honoring their rights means honoring their humanity and continuing the work of justice, equity, and inclusion.

Letโ€™s move forward together, committed to building communities where ๐š๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ are not privileges, but expectations for everyone.


Toward Independence, Inc. Greene County Board of Developmental Disabilities Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities Darke County Board of Developmental Disabilities Miami County Board of Developmental Disabilities Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services Ohio Health Care Association Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities

The Bill of Rights isnโ€™t just words on paper..... itโ€™s lived every day.In this video, individuals at Toward Independence take the camera and share their rig...

๐ŸŽ‰ ๐„๐ฑ๐œ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ŸŽ‰Toward Independence, Inc. was recently featured in both the Xenia Gazette and Fairborn Daily Herald ๐Ÿ“ฐ Th...
01/16/2026

๐ŸŽ‰ ๐„๐ฑ๐œ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ŸŽ‰

Toward Independence, Inc. was recently featured in both the Xenia Gazette and Fairborn Daily Herald ๐Ÿ“ฐ These stories shine a spotlight on two very special milestones: ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“-๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž ๐œ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐  and our celebration of ๐Ÿ“๐ŸŽ ๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž! โณโœจ

This isnโ€™t just about history; itโ€™s about the incredible people who have made TI what it is today. From our dedicated staff to the amazing community members we serve, every story, every smile, and every effort has built the foundation for this milestone. ๐Ÿ’™

Sealing the time capsule was a way to capture memories, dreams, and hopes for the future, a promise that the next generation of TI leaders will see just how much heart and commitment our community has poured into these 50 years. ๐ŸŒŸ

Weโ€™re proud of our past, energized by our present, and excited for the future. Check out the articles, share the excitement, and help us spread the TI pride with your friends, family, and teams! ๐Ÿš€

https://www.xeniagazette.com/2026/01/15/toward-independence-seals-time-capsule/

https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/2026/01/15/toward-independence-seals-time-capsule/


Greene County Board of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities Darke County Board of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Health Care Association Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services Miami County Board of Developmental Disabilities

XENIA โ€” Ever wonder what goes into a time capsule? Just ask the folks at Toward Independence, 81 E. Main Street in downtown Xenia โ€” they know all about it.

This Is My Story: Victoria Randhawa on Advocacy, Growth, and Finding Purpose at Toward Independence
01/12/2026

This Is My Story: Victoria Randhawa on Advocacy, Growth, and Finding Purpose at Toward Independence

Victoria shares her personal and professional journey, from growing up in a single-parent household and navigating uncertainty after graduate school, to disc...

๐ŸŽ„โœจ A Magical & Merry Christmas at Toward Independence! โœจ๐ŸŽ„Christmas Day was nothing short of magical! As some of Toward I...
12/26/2025

๐ŸŽ„โœจ A Magical & Merry Christmas at Toward Independence! โœจ๐ŸŽ„

Christmas Day was nothing short of magical! As some of Toward Independence's family came together to celebrate with the amazing individuals we serve, families, friends, and our dedicated staff. Together they celebrated with laughter, joy, and holiday cheer that filled the room from wall to wall.

The festivities began with the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Claus! ๐ŸŽ…๐Ÿคถ Their warm smiles, cheerful waves, and festive greetings immediately lit up the room. Individuals shared their holiday wishes, families joined in the fun, and staff made sure every little moment was full of joy.

And just when we thought the magic couldnโ€™t get any biggerโ€ฆ the Grinch sneaked in! ๐Ÿ’š At first, he tried to swipe a few treats, but the laughter of everyone around him melted his Grinchy heart. Soon he was laughing, dancing, and even joining in a few holiday games, proving that even the Grinch canโ€™t resist a Toward Independence Christmas!

Of course, Frosty the Snowman made his grand entrance, twirling and tapping his broomstick, spreading snow-filled laughter everywhere he went. โ„๏ธโ˜ƒ๏ธ Individuals joined in the fun, dancing along and giggling as Frosty playfully โ€œsnowedโ€ on everyone with a sprinkle of magical winter fun.

And if that wasnโ€™t enough holiday magic, some of Santaโ€™s reindeer came to visit! ๐ŸฆŒโœจ Their twinkling noses and gentle presence added a sparkle to the day, giving everyone the chance to get close, pet them, and marvel at the wonder of the season.

Throughout the day, there were heartwarming moments everywhere you looked: hugs, high-fives, playful antics, and the kind of laughter that fills the heart. Families connected, staff shared in the fun, and individuals experienced a day full of pure joy and holiday magic.

This celebration reminded us why community, connection, and togetherness are at the heart of the holiday season. From everyone at Toward Independence, we are so grateful for the smiles, laughter, and love that filled the room.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May your season be full of joy, magic, and memories to last a lifetime! ๐ŸŽโค๏ธ

Toward Independence, Inc. Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Ohio Health Care Association

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81 E Main Street
Xenia, OH
45385

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Change lives. One person at a time.

We are a non-profit organization that serves adults with developmental disabilities across 5 counties in Ohio. We are all about creating miracles for those that we serve every single day. Whether it is helping someone learn a new skill, gaining more independence, connecting with their community or simply providing high-quality transportation, we take pride in helping each and every one of the individuals that we are honored to serve to take one more step toward their own independence.