Anne Carlsen Center Announces SE ND Community Services

ACC staff and clients cut the ribbon on the Community Services celebration held in the Hjemkomst Center in June.

The Anne Carlsen Center announced Thursday that it is now providing Community Services in southeastern North Dakota, out of its Fargo office. This expansion allows the Center to serve more clients and families in their home communities.

The Center’s local community-based staff is specially trained to equip and empower individuals with disabilities.

The Anne Carlsen Center offers support to those with disabilities in the areas of daily living, self-care and behavior management, while making it easier to build a home life of dignity and well-being. The Center’s professionals have special training to work with individuals with autism, behavioral and sensory challenges and/or medical fragility.

By offering individualized support and training, the Anne Carlsen Center helps Fargo-area residents with disabilities thrive at home and in their communities. Those individuals stay connected to their home communities, maintain close ties and friendships, and make meaningful contributions to the communities they live in.

The Anne Carlsen Center celebrated the achievements made by these individuals in the past year, during a celebration and public open house Thursday at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead. Representatives of the Anne Carlsen Center noted that while meeting diverse and important needs on its Jamestown campus, it has become increasingly aware of significant needs elsewhere in the state.

Expansion of Community Services in Fargo is part of a comprehensive plan for bringing the Center’s resources and professionals closer to individuals and families whose lives are affected by a developmental disability. It is part of an expansion that began in 2008.

The Center is already providing services in and around Grand Forks … and in and around Jamestown. All the while, has maintained and continues to greatly value its original, well-established Jamestown campus.

Courtney moves cookies from a baking sheet to a serving tray during a demonstration at the ACC Community Services celebration event.

A focus of the Anne Carlsen Center’s work is offering support which makes it easier for its clients to build a home life of dignity and well-being. Providing support and training in people’s homes, Center officials note, helps children, young adults and their families build home lives of dignity and well-being. For those over the age of 21, the Center provides opportunities to grow and learn while successfully residing in community settings. For each individual, Anne Carlsen Center’s highly-trained staff helps create a unique plan for independence and community involvement.

The Center’s namesake, Dr. Anne Carlsen (1915-2002), believed that all people should experience life to its fullest. Born without forearms or lower legs, she triumphed over her physical disabilities, learning how to swim, play baseball, write and later—even drive a car. During a 60-year career at the Anne Carlsen Center, she embraced the roles of teacher, principal, superintendent and mentor. She became a world-renowned disabilities advocate, and received the 1958 President’s Trophy as the Handicapped American of the Year and also received the North Dakota Roughrider Award, the state’s highest honor.

“Dr. Anne” was very passionate about helping others become more independent and enjoy the greatest possible quality of life. The spirit of hope lives on today as the Center remains passionately committed to “Nurturing abilities. Changing lives.”

The Anne Carlsen Center’s Fargo Community Services Office is located at 1323 23rd Street South, Suite K. For more information visit www.annecenter.org or call 701-364-2663 or toll free at 877-873-4507.