Abilis Community Network Services
All of us want opportunities for recreation, leisure and fun close to home. We want to enjoy everything our community has to offer, from theater to restaurants and concerts to sports. We also want to find ways to connect with neighbors and make new friends.
Abilis Community Network helps adults with intellectual disabilities seize these opportunities, with the following goals:
- connect people with varying abilities and encourage meaningful relationships.
- provide a range of enjoyable leisure and recreation activities so people can explore possibilities within their own communities and find choices that appeal to them.
- teach people to plan and coordinate their own local activities.
Abilis Community Network connects adults in the Fairfield county region, regardless of age or place of residence, with their communities. About one-half of the approximately 150 people participating in Abilis Community Network programs in 2009, for example, did not receive residential services from Abilis.
Our menu of activities is long – from social groups, parties and dances in the Stamford/Greenwich area to sporting events, concerts and shows across metropolitan New York, to vacations and cruises across the continent. People choose activities according to personal preferences. At Abilis Community Network, we are constantly looking for new and exciting activities to add to the repertoire.
No-cost registration is required to join the Abilis Community Network, but there are participation fees to sustain the program. Abilis Community Network is completely self-supporting and receives no government funding. A newsletter with upcoming activities is published four times a year so individuals can plan ahead and choose activities they enjoy. Enrollment is limited. Most activities happen in the evenings or on weekends.
Community Network is one of Abilis’ most popular services because it brings people together to have fun, right in their own back yards, based on personal preferences. At Abilis Community Network, we work hard to have fun!
Social Groups More than 20 groups, each with a different theme, meet regularly in the Greenwich-Stamford area to go bowling or to the movies, listen to music, swim, cook, dance, enjoy the arts, eat at a restaurant, exercise or hang out with friends.
Games and Performing Arts Abilis is constantly on the go, with weekly programs to enjoy and explore music and the performing arts, monthly board-game marathons with Twister, Trivial Pursuit and Bingo, and outdoor volleyball, basketball, horseshoes and track events if weather permits.
Monthly Birthday Parties Friends come together to celebrate. Join the fun!
Halloween Dance The party of the year – every year – held since 1995 with the support and generosity of our community partners at the Knights of Columbus in Greenwich. Months of planning, creativity and work go into every costume. The deejay spins the hottest tunes and the dance floor is packed.
Holiday Dance, Valentine’s Day Dance, Hawaiian Dance Celebrate the biggest social holidays of the year with friends. Break out your grass skirt or colorful shirt for the Hawaiian Dance in August.
Ski trips An adaptive sports program offers one-on-one lessons. Several members have become accomplished skiers and hit the slopes with us every year.
Shows and sporting events Madonna? Britney Spears? Mets? Yankees? Red Sox? Broadway? We’ve seen them all. Abilis Community Network gets the hottest tickets to events throughout the tri-state area and makes an outing of it, with lunch or dinner at some of the finest restaurants in New York City and the region.
Vacations Trips of up to 10 days in length, with 24-hour supervision by Abilis staff, are organized about four times per quarter. Advanced registration and deposits required. A ratio of no less than one staff member for every three vacationers is the standard. Escape winter’s chill with a cruise to Bermuda, Jamaica or Mexico or explore the Northwest in an Alaskan cruise. Recent trips have included Hollywood, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Orlando, Canada, Mexico and other popular spots in North America.
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Enabling Independence
Building Community
Impacting Society
A complete support network for adults and their families.
Providing opportunities for individuals to gain confidence and succeed.
For more information about Abilis Community Network Services contact:
Paul Jourdan
Community Network Coordinator
203-531-1880 x152 or email:
Amy Samalin
Director of Adult Services
203-531-1880 x128 or email:
Lolli Ross
Executive Director
203-531-1880 x104 or email:
50 Glenville Street, Greenwich, CT 06831
