Starkey

2000 Starkey, Inc. currently serves more than 300 people through its employment, residential and life skills programs. 2001 Carolyn Risley Hill becomes CEO of Starkey, Inc. 2002 Starkey implements new mission and vision statements and a new three-year strategic plan. 2002 Computers and e-mail are installed at all community living settings. 2003 Starkey opens the Passport to Opportunity Program, which offers education units and community outings on a part- or full-time basis as another day services program option. The start-up of the program is funded with a gift from the Boeing Employees Community Fund. 2003 Starkey builds a seven-bedroom community living setting made from Agriboard, a building product made from compressed wheat straw. It features a safe room made with double layers of Agriboard, tested to withstand wind speeds equivalent to an F3 tornado. 2003 Persons served, parents, guardians and staff begin the Buy Shares in Starkey's Future fundraising campaign to create a start-up fund for a business venture that will employ persons served and create additional revenue to fund Starkey programs. 2004 Starkey receives $1.27 million in low-income housing tax credits from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation to build the 15-unit Kouri Place Apartments, located at Anna and Douglas. The one-bedroom apartments will house individuals with developmental disabilities and will feature an on-site manager. 2004 The Starkey Action Council hosts the first-ever Starkey Garden Fair, a two-day extravaganza at the home of Tom and Myra Devlin near Augusta. The Garden Fair features tours of 10 acres of manicured gardens, a cafe, guest presentations and retailers from Wichita and surrounding cities. 2004 The Buy Shares committee raises $60,395, which is matched by the Starkey Foundation and, combined with other pledges, creates a fund of $122,620 to assist with start-up costs of a new business venture. 2004 The Starkey Foundation celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Charlie Daniels Golf Classic in Wichita. 2005 Starkey marks its 75th anniversary of service to individuals with developmental disabilities in the Wichita community with a variety of activities, including the dedication of a time capsule at 4500 W. Maple, a traveling historical exhibit and a gala dinner at Century II Exhibition Hall for 475 guests, including current and former students, staff, parents and volunteers. 2005 The Kouri Place Apartments open at 140 S. Anna. Fourteen of the one-bedroom apartments are leased by individuals served at Starkey; the 15th apartment is reserved for an on-site staff who can provide any necessary support. The apartments were funded with $1.27 million in low-income housing tax credits from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation and $67,500 from the Federal Home Loan Bank Topeka-Affordable Housing Program, through a grant administered by Southwest National Bank in Wichita. 2005 Overstock Avenue, a resale shop offering brand name merchandise, opens at 4800 W. Maple. This is the first venture undertaken by Starkey Enterprises Ltd., and it employs 70 individuals in the set-up phase and will eventually employ an individual served at Starkey. It is partially funded with the funds raised by parents and other volunteers through the "Buy Shares" campaign. 2005 Starkey joins in the 10th anniversary celebration for the Sedgwick County Developmental Disability Organization (SCDDO), created as a result of the Developmental Disabilities Reform Law. Starkey and other agencies in Sedgwick County are affiliate service providers of the SCDDO. 2006 Starkey launches an electronic recycling - or e-cycling - program in its work center, where individuals served at Starkey dismantle a variety of electronic items for recycling, including CPUs, keyboards, printers, scanners, copiers, VCRs and fax machines. 2006 The Starkey Enterprises board votes to close Overstock Avenue after it does not meet expected job creation and revenue expectations. 2006 The College of Direct Support, an online curriculum developed by the University of Minnesota, is offered to direct support professionals at Starkey, and 626 lessons are completed by 28 employees during 12 months. During its 2006 regular session, the Kansas Legislature votes to fund the College of Direct Support and make it available to all disability agencies in Kansas. 2006 Another five-person community living setting is opened in Wichita. 2006 Starkey contracts for a development audit to review its fundraising structure, and receives a capacity building grant from the Wichita Community Foundation to aid in creating a comprehensive development strategy. 2007 Another five-person community living setting is opened in Wichita. 2007 Starkey is named the Kansas Transit Provider of the Year by the Kansas Public Transit Association. 2007 The Gateway to Opportunity Program, a pilot project supporting individuals with a dual diagnosis of a developmental disability and a mental illness, is launched. 2007 Starkey launches a fundraising campaign for the LIGHTHouse Project, which will build three five-person homes for individuals who have developmental disabilities and dementia. 2008 Transportation providers, including Starkey, receive a boost in funding from the City of Wichita and from the federal government's New Freedom initiative.