June 11, 2008 (La Grange, NC) – Charlotte, North Carolina-based The Duke Endowment has just made a $600,000.00 multi-year grant to RHA Howell, Inc. in support of the Workforce Investment Network (WIN). Through this collaborative effort, RHA Howell will address a serious workforce shortage in direct support in the allied health fields. The company will retain and professionally develop their direct support employees, while promoting team members through more defined career ladder programs in clinical, medical, educational, operational and administrative support. The company is creating in-service training, certificate programs and Associates and Bachelor degree programs tailored to local health care needs. WIN will advance a culture of employability, success and lifelong learning across North Carolina’s allied healthcare and disabilities support industries. The WIN program will significantly improve future support and guarantee self-reliance for the people with disabilitie
s they serve.

The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The Endowment's mission is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare, and spiritual life.

The Workforce Investment Network (WIN) is a collaborative effort created by RHA Howell, Inc. that engages North Carolina Community Colleges, East Carolina University, and the North Carolina Providers’ Council. WIN also incorporates the guidance and support of AmeriCorps *Vista members to work in this allied health initiative.

Over a five-year period, RHA Howell’s WIN rollout promises to improve the lives of people with disabilities living in the community and improve the quality of services for people supported by RHA Howell, Inc. and other providers. The WIN program will also improve conditions for individuals working in direct support, the local economies in which they live and North Carolina economy as a whole. North Carolina has long struggled with issues of workforce development. This program is an important step for the entire State.

For nearly 40 years, North Carolina’s largest private non-profit provider of residential-based services for people with intellectual disabilities who are also often challenged with complex medical conditions – the RHA Howell, Inc. – has operated almost entirely on Medicaid funding. “Public funding simply won’t provide the needed resources;” says RHA Howell President Sandra K. (Sam) Hedrick, “to open up the world to the people we serve, we need direct support professionals with Twenty-first Century skills.”

The RHA Howell, Inc. began in 1970 when Irene Howell founded the state’s first intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded in LaGrange, NC, because she couldn’t find what she felt was adequate care for her grandson. As demand for the high level of care and training she provided to infants and young children grew, she established a network of facilities across the state to extend that care both geographically and over a wider age span. Today, community projects, care centers and group homes, which serve residents from infants to adults, are located in Polkton, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Goldsboro, New Bern, and Winston-Salem.

When Irene Howell retired, she turned her legacy over to RHA Health Services, which she felt shared her compassion for people with disabilities and could offer a wide array of programs and therapy to enhance their quality of life. Bettering that quality of life takes training for the direct support workforce, according to Mark Spano, director of philanthropy. “These workforce skills issues are facing most of the industries across North Carolina. Allied health is a burgeoning industry in North Carolina especially rural communities. We are proud to have The Duke Endowment on board with the WIN effort.”

For more information on RHA Howell Care Centers, visit http://www.rhahowell.org.