Our mission is “To empower adults with disabilities through vocational and social opportunities, and to guide them toward realizing their goals and dreams”; and is grounded in the core beliefs of:

We are a human services organization that began in 1964 and now supports over 375 clients, employs over 100 staff, and coordinates services throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area from our wonderful energy-efficient building in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. We recently opened a program site for Adult Day Services (ADS) and Memory Care Services (MCS) in downtown North St. Paul.

The following are examples of how donations will benefit clients in our program:

• Resources to discover each individual’s preferred life passions and enrichment activities;

• Support for client self-advocacy groups, conferences, and political activities;

• Specialized equipment to enhance programs and improve client safety; and

• Therapeutic programs like horticulture, pet, art, music, & assistive technology, etc.

Previous results include:

• Aggregate client wages paid directly by Merrick now exceeds $565,000 per year-increasing annually each year for the last seven years and doubling wages paid in 2004.

• Over 105 clients participate in weekly self-adovcacy groups - more than any other DT&H program in the State of Minnesota. In 2012, 42 self-advocates attended the Creative Options conference. Self-advocates also conducted ten presentations to other DT&H's, disability groups, and at conferences in 2012.

• Merrick is a source of economic stimulus in our local community. Dr. C. Ford Runge, a parent of a Merrick client and local economist, published a study demonstrating that Merrick "gives back" nearly $3 in local economic benefit for every $1 of state funds invested in our program.

• Merrick received the Green Award from the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce for long-standing accomplishments in energy efficient facilities management and envrionmentally friendly business ventures. We also received a Govenor's Award for pollution prevention.

• Through a competitive bidding process we were selected to become the official supplier of office copy paper for the State of Minnesota.

Keep updated on all things Merrick by joining our mailing list: http://bit.ly/merrickmailinglist