Through its Power to Care initiative, Florida Power and Light (FPL) gave two community non-profit programs a brighter look for 2022 when volunteers spent the day beautifying and landscaping the facilities at The WOW Center in Kendal and the Citrus Health Network in Hialeah.
In its 14th year, the annual Power to Care week ran between February 28 and March 5 this year. FPL’s Power to Care week consists of 30 projects led by over 500 employees and their families in 13 counties across Florida.
In Kendal, more than 20 Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) volunteers were all hands on deck at the WOW Center, spending the day enhancing the location’s exterior by weeding and landscaping the front area. Over at Hialeah, a similar number of volunteers spent the day beautifying the Citrus Health Network’s recreational spaces, including painting, drawing murals, and landscaping.
This is one of nearly 30 in-person and virtual volunteer projects part of Power to Care Week. Volunteers roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to help make the communities they serve even better places to live, work and raise families.
Formerly known as Community Habilitation Center, the WOW Center was organized in the early 1970s by a small group of parents of children with developmental disabilities (autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, spina bifida).
Today the WOW Center is an Adult Day Training (ADT) center that serves more than 200 adults with developmental disabilities through programs and services to help them learn skills to lead meaningful and productive lives.
The Center offers support, guidance, and encouragement to adults with developmental disabilities regarding their personal choices, abilities, growth, and ultimately, independence. It provides individuals with programs designed to help them learn skills to lead meaningful and productive lives, explore their potential, and develop a sense of community. To attain these goals, the agency offers the following work and education programs: Life and Work Skills, Technology Lab, Art, Sports and Fitness, Music Therapy, Community Based Education, Supported Employment, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Social Services, Special Olympics, and a Kiwanis Aktion Club.
Citrus Health Network was founded in 1979 as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) community mental health center dedicated to serving mentally ill individuals and their families. Citrus provides services to adults and children across the spectrum of cognitive and behavioral health needs and is one of the largest mental and behavioral health providers in South Florida.
Dr. Robyn Lyn, Clinical Coordinator, Citrus Health Network, said: “The kids here are going to benefit from this service. They love to come outdoors. They love to play sports, play basketball, read. This is really going to have an impact, a positive impact on their mental health.”
Florida Power and Light’s employees are happy to help their communities. Darlyne Jean-Charles, one of the many volunteers, said: “We’re very happy to come out and help these underserved kids and just to show our faces and to show that we support and the mission of Citrus Health.”
