Employment opportunities

The Polus Center is currently seeking a Program Director position in Greater Boston.

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 30, 9:30pm - Pink Voyd Live at the Strand Theatre (PDF, 4 Mb) - Buy Tickets

MISSION

The Polus Center for Social & Economic Development, Inc. strives to create opportunities for persons with disabilities and members of other vulnerable groups to become valued citizens within their communities.

The word “Polus” is of Latin origin and means the highest point, suggesting reaching for the ideal. The name invokes people being at their best by helping each other and welcoming one another into a meaningful community life.

The Polus Center is a non-profit umbrella organization that designs and implements community-based programs in the United States and throughout the developing world.

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

Shared Living
The Polus Center helps to establish and support households where people with and without disabilities live in mutually beneficial relationships based on respect and loyalty to one another. Shared Living encourages each person to live a rich and meaningful life and promotes highly individualized supports rooted in relationships. Ideal homes are supportive, safe, and comfortable while accommodating the needs and preferences of each household member. In Shared Living, people live together as equals, involve each other in other relationships and activities inside and outside the home, and together share in life's joys as well as its challenges.

International Programs
In 1997, the Polus Center entered into the international arena by coordinating humanitarian efforts in Central America aimed at addressing the long-term needs of people with disabilities, particularly those individuals who lost limbs due to acts of war, landmines and diseases. Polus has now worked for many years in developing countries to promote social and economic justice for some of the world's most vulnerable groups. The Polus Center has an established track record for creating innovative and flexible person centered victim assistance programs, including prosthetic clinics and distribution, job training and economic development, leadership training, accessibility and barrier reduction projects, and the development of the PLUSSA wheelchair manufacturing facility. Grassroots development projects and mini-grants help people with disabilities create or maintain small businesses, access educational opportunities, combat social stigma, and become re-integrated into their communities in Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua and throughout the world. Polus also helps to administer the Coffeelands Trust, a fund dedicated to providing direct support to victims of conflict who live and work in coffee communities.

Social and Economic Opportunities
In additional to mini-grants, job training and employment that provides sustainable income for landmine survivors and their families in developing countries, the Polus Center has helped match employer labor needs and qualified adults who have disabilities in the United States for over 20 years. We advocate a "place and train" method of job development, in which people with disabilities find a job based on their skills and interests and then are further trained according to their needs. We offer education and resources to workplaces on how to access an untapped talent pool and how to build and foster an inclusive and flexible workplace. In addition to individualized support for the people we help to find competitive jobs and volunteer opportunities, we offer employer workshops, resources and customized workplace team training programs.

Training and Consulting
The Polus Center works with grassroots organizations to help them plan and implement economic, social integration, and community-based rehabilitation projects. Active participation in these planning sessions offers a unique action learning opportunity for participants to learn about victim assistance and developing person-centered human service models. In addition, through the Academy of Professional Skills Development (a division of the Polus Center), we provide leadership training, organization development, and small business capacity building to both non-profit and for-profit organizations throughout the U.S. and in developing countries. Any proceeds earned through training and consulting work with for-profit companies goes to people supported by the Polus Center.

NEW! "Gifts That Matter"
Click the cover art at left to browse the online version of our new "Gifts That Matter" catalog. A better way to honor someone special for their wedding, birthday, or any occasion or holiday: with a donation in their name to one of seven great Polus causes. Choose a gift...

Join us on Ebay!

The Polus Center Emporium sells unique gifts and other donated items to raise funds for Polus Center Go to projects. To make a donation contact Brenda at 978-368-1550, bcalder@poluscenter.org

Sharing The News - Winter 2009 (PDF, 284k)

Geography of Coffee
In 2009, students from Bridgewater State College traveled to Nicaragua on the "Geography of Coffee" study tour. On this trip, the group visited many projects supported by the Polus Center.

First year medical student from UMass Medical volunteers at Walking Unidos

Give a Child a Goat - The Uganda Goat Project
The Give a Child a Goat Project elevates the status of children with disabilities and their families. A child with a disability who owns a goat holds a valued position in local Ugandan society, since goats provide families with a sustainable livelihood of food and milk.

Sharing The News - Fall 2008 (PDF, 340k)