FREE awarded honor for workforce development
Family Residences and Essential Enterprises has received the 2020 Moving Mountains Award for best practices in workforce development.
The Old Bethpage-based nonprofit’s Center for Learning and Professional Development was recognized for its commitment to ongoing education for its employees, according to an organization statement.
The award was given by the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota and American Network of Community Options and Resources.
The Moving Mountains Award ceremony will take place virtually, during NADSP’s “From Praise to Promise” event during National Direct Support Professional Recognition Week on Sept. 16.
FREE’s commitment to ongoing learning for its direct support professionals (DSPs) and other team members includes a learning management system that offers 600 online courses, tuition reimbursement program and other benefits.
“It’s a tremendous honor to receive the Moving Mountains Award,” Robert S. Budd, CEO of FREE, said in the statement. “By offering our workforce a multitude of opportunities to continue their education and development, we believe that the people we serve will also be the beneficiaries.”
Founded in 1977, FREE benefits and supports more than 4,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental illness and traumatic brain injury.
