Hope Lions Hear Program on Rainbow of Challenges from CEO Judy Watson
The Hope Lions Club heard a program on Monday (7-28) from Judy Watson, CEO of Rainbow of Challenges. She noted that ROC is now known as “ROCOH”. Watson said new acronym is a way of not focusing on people’s challenges. The acronym stands for ““Respect, Originality, Creativity, Opportunity, Hope”. She said they are about building people and making them as independent as possible.
Watson talked about how people qualify for Rainbow of Challenges services. She noted they are based on serving people with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For them to qualify, they have to have the disability prior to turning 21 years of age. Also, for people to qualify they have to have an I.Q. under 70. Watson said they serve people in all spectrums of I.Q. from 70 to 20.
Under services, Watson noted they have children’s services which are called “early intervention day treatment”. These youngsters qualify from birth to age 5 and then they transfer to public school. Watson said Rainbow of Challenges is ready for them when they come out of public school if they are not able to function on their own. Watson also noted they are partnering with public school in the coming year to doing more training and transitioning when they get to high school. This also includes working with families as they learn how things will go after public schooling.
Watson talked about the agencies they are licensed through including the Department of Human Services, Developmental Disabilities Services, Department of Education, and Childcare Services.
In the children’s program, Rainbow of Challenges has about 50 youngsters in Hope plus a satellite facility in Lewisville that serves about 40 children. Watson said they have just graduated youngsters into public school and the numbers are expected to increase after school starts. Some of the conditions that qualify a child for the programs include Autism, Downs Syndrome, and traumatic injuries. Watson said is the biggest group of referrals they are seeing. Also, Watson said they are not seeing some of the medical conditions she saw 35 years ago when she started due to medical advances. She also noted COVID has influenced how they serve some young people because they were isolated during the pandemic. Watson said they have hired a behavioral specialist to help in this matter.
Under adult services, Watson talked about the Melon Patch, the “Roc N Reruns Thift Store”, and the recycling program. Watson said many of these jobs prepare people to work in the private sector. There’s about 42 people working at ROC Enterprises.
Rainbow Industries is pre-vocational. The aim of this program is to get people ready to work at ROC Enterprises.
Some of the services Rainbow of Challenges provides are susceptible to Medicaid cuts. Watson said they stay attuned to any changes to Medicaid both on a state and national level.
Watson discussed the “community waiver” services. This program has a residential program with five homes. These include two facilities for women, a men’s group home, an apartment complex, and a long-term care facility. Currently they have 52 residential placement slots and 80 on their community waiver. These live out in the community with most in Hempstead County.
Some other services Watson detailed included therapy (P.T. and Speech), transportation, nursing services, special nutrition food program, and case management. There’s also a foster care program through DHS with host home environments. Right now, there are no residents in the foster care program.
Watson talked about the “Next Step” program. They are partnering with Hempstead County on old migrant center and hope to get that open in the first quarter of 2026. Watson said they received a $3 million dollar grant from the state for this. This will offer housing for young adults in transition. Watson said they saw a need for a transitional program for kids coming out of foster care. This will be for people aged 18 to 24. Their plan will be built around what they won’t to do in life. This will range from helping them get into college to getting into the workforce. Watson is working on a steering committee for the program.
Watson talked about challenges. She said one of their biggest challenges now is workforce shortages. She said they’ve always had challenges there because applicants have to pass a drug test as well as background checks. This became more challenging after COVID. She said it has been harder to recruit people for direct care. Watson said the workforce shortage has kept them from growing anymore. Another challenge is affordable housing and making sure their clients aren’t around people who will take advantage of them. She talked about how they addressed this in part by developing a facility from an old daycare center.
Watson also addressed partners in the community for employment. She said employers are sometimes surprised to know their liability with an employee from Rainbow of Challenges isn’t any more than other employees. Watson said they are always looking for partners within the community for employment. She said most of their employers say they wish they had more employees with the attitude of the Rainbow of Challenges employees.
The Lions were very interested in the program and had a few questions for Watson after the meeting.
If you have questions about Rainbow of Challenges, feel free to call 777-4501 in Hope.
