First Lady of New Jersey Mary Pat Christie, to Tour Social Enterprise for People with Disabilities

Community Options, Inc. a national nonprofit organization that has been developing homes and employment for people with disabilities since 1989, will be welcoming the First Lady of New Jersey, Mary Pat Christie to tour one of its Daily Plan It’s on Friday, September 17, 2010 at 10:00am. The Daily Plan It is a complete conference and copy center where space is made available to small business owners and people with disabilities provide the entire infrastructure and concierge of the business.

The Daily Plan It is only one of the ways that Community Options combats a sheltered workshop setting for people with disabilities. The organization owns and operates five other social enterprises across New Jersey that allow people with disabilities to gain a relevant and portable skill set to move on to more competitive employment.

First Lady Christie will be joining leaders of the organization for a tour of the Morristown Daily Plan It as well as the facilitation of a round table discussion about replicable models of employment for people with disabilities and decreasing the wait list for employment and day services in New Jersey.

Robert Stack, founder and CEO of Community Options is an expert on national disability policy and has dedicated his entire career to emancipating people with disabilities out of state run institutions to provide them with a better quality of life in the community. Stack develops small, two to three person homes in eighteen out of twenty-one counties in New Jersey. Stack’s social enterprise models are the most replicable and practical business systems in the United States that offer a stepping stone for people with disabilities who have a desire to learn a skill set and earn a paycheck.

“I feel very fortunate that we are able to have First Lady Christie to our Morristown Daily Plan It,” says Stack. “The Daily Plan It is at the essence of what we do – social inclusion – where a person’s disability does not define who they are or what they are capable of doing,” added Stack.

The First Lady of New Jersey, has successfully combined her roles as wife and mother with a business career and community service. Born in Paoli, Pennsylvania, Mrs. Christie is the 9th of 10 children. She is a graduate of the University of Delaware, and she earned a master’s degree in business administration and finance from Seton Hall University. Mrs. Christie currently is senior vice president in the high yield corporate bond department at Cantor Fitzgerald. FShe participates in her daughters’ Girls Scout and Brownie troops and serves as a team mom for various baseball and soccer teams. Mrs. Christie is involved in her church, St Joseph’s in Mendham, and contributes to the family liturgy, confirmation class activities, and soup kitchen outreach.

There is a press pass required for this event for security purposes. Press will be allowed to enter the building located 150-152 Speedwell Avenue in Morristown at 9:45am to set up for the tour beginning at 10:00am. The roundtable is not open to the press.To obtain a press pass, please contact Jessica Guberman at jessica.guberman@comop.org or 973-390-0357. For more information about Community Options, please visit them on their website at www.comop.org.