Tennessee Governor, Bill Lee, and his wife, Maria, toured Jackson’s STAR Center on August 28 to better understand the work the center is doing for disabled individuals across the state.
As first lady, Maria has launched a three-part initiative called Tennessee Serves to encourage all Tennesseans to love their neighbors as themselves and demonstrate that love through acts of service.
The three parts of the initiative are serve, highlight and mobilize. The goal is that seeing how the STAR center serves will help the state highlight them and mobilize more Tennesseans to volunteer.
“These folks’ lives are being changed,” said Governor Lee. “That’s part of Maria’s efforts here. Her Tennessee Serves initiative is to inspire others to engage and serve.”
While at the STAR Center, the Governor and First Lady met with both staff and clients of the assistive technology, employment services, in-home companion care, music therapy, reading clinic, speech therapy and vision services departments.
Each department provides services for education, employment and independence for all ages and needs in West Tennessee and beyond.
Dustin Jones is one of many people that the duo got to meet. He started off as a client, learning how to live his life with a hereditary visual impairment disease. After being in the program for two years, Jones now volunteers at the STAR Center to give back to the place that helped him regain control over his life.
“What they’ve done for me has changed my life,” said Jones. “When I first came down here, I had never picked up a cane. I always relied on someone when I went somewhere. Now I have cane skills and I am independent that way.”
The STAR Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1988 that provides services to people with disabilities of all ages and needs. They primarily service the 21 counties of West Tennessee, but provide assistive technology services in all 95 counties in Tennessee.
On an annual basis, the STAR Center serves approximately 4,000 individuals with disabilities or other special needs.
For more information about the STAR Center, or to get involved, contact Nicole Russell, STAR Center Manager of Development and Marketing, at [email protected] or 731-668-3888.
