By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
A $100,000 state earmark will help Attleboro Enterprises Inc. (AEI) expand services for adults with intellectual, developmental and neurodiverse disabilities.
The funding, secured by state Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Foxboro) in partnership with state Sen. Becca Rausch (D-Needham), comes as demand for disability services continues to outpace available space, according to AEI Chief Executive Officer Jerry Pilkington.
“There aren’t enough services,” Pilkington said. “We’re not the only organization that provides these types of services, but certainly there’s a need for more capacity. Some families just aren’t able to get their children into a program. That’s why we’re opening up Plainville.”
The earmark will support AEI’s expansion into an 18,000-square-foot building in Plainville, where the nonprofit plans to replicate many of the services offered at its North Attleborough campus, including Community Based Day Supports, Day Habilitation, employment services, teaching kitchens and sensory rooms.
“AEI does amazing work,” Feeney said in a statement. “Every day, they help individuals with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities build independence, ignite their passions and live their lives to the fullest. That’s the kind of work that strengthens an entire community, just as we’ve seen firsthand in North Attleborough.”
Meeting a growing need
AEI traces its roots to the late 1950s, when area families sought alternatives to institutional care for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This led to the founding of Attleboro Enterprises in 1978 as an independent nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities live, work and participate in their communities.
Since relocating to North Attleborough and expanding its campus, the organization has grown into one of the region’s largest providers of disability services, and serves more than 1,000 individuals annually through programs funded by the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services, MassAbility and MassHealth.
AEI has launched a $1.5 million capital campaign to renovate a recently purchased building in Plainville after its existing facilities reached capacity. More than $800,000 has been raised. Construction is underway, and Pilkington hopes to open the facility in January 2027.
“It means a lot,” Pilkington said. “We’re attempting to raise $1.5 million for this project, and that $100,000 helps alleviate some of that need.”
Creating opportunities
AEI also helps individuals with disabilities find competitive employment throughout the region. Last year alone, the organization placed 530 people into private-sector jobs, with 443 remaining employed for at least 90 days. AEI works with more than 100 employers, including Home Depot, Lowe’s, Stop & Shop and Shaw’s to create employment opportunities for program participants.
Rather than relying on traditional job coaches who remain alongside workers after they’re hired, Pilkington said AEI focuses on building relationships with employers and helping businesses understand how to support employees with disabilities.
“Our team really does a good job,” he said.
AEI’s community partnerships extend beyond employment. Bristol Elder Services leases the nonprofit’s commercial kitchens to prepare Meals on Wheels for North Attleborough and Norton, with some participants helping deliver meals to local residents.
The teaching kitchens also serve as classrooms, where participants learn nutrition and cooking skills before putting them into practice through community service projects such as Lasagna Love, preparing homemade meals for local families experiencing food insecurity.
More than a garden
Part of the earmark will also fund a wheelchair-accessible teaching garden at AEI’s North Attleborough campus. The project includes a concrete pad designed to meet wheelchair accessibility standards and raised garden beds, where participants can grow vegetables used in nutrition and cooking classes.
“It will broaden the type of activities they can be involved in at this facility,” Pilkington said. “If they’re growing vegetables, they can use those vegetables in the meals we’re teaching them to cook.”
The accessible garden reflects AEI’s broader mission of helping participants build practical life skills while becoming active members of their communities.
Pilkington said these programs can extend beyond the individuals participating in them. He recalled a mother who stopped by his office shortly after Mother’s Day to tell him her son, who had found employment through AEI’s autism program, had purchased her a Mother’s Day gift with money from his first paycheck.
“She came into my office crying,” Pilkington said. “She said, ‘My son got a job through this program, and yesterday, on Mother’s Day, with the money he earned, he bought me a Mother’s Day present for the first time.’
“It’s those kinds of things,” he added. “Many of the folks we provide services to are isolated, and when those barriers are broken down, it makes a big difference for families.”