About

Pathways to Independence (Pathways) was founded in 1987, first as a committee of the Learning Disabilities Association – St. Louis and then as a separate not-for-profit organization. Pathways was created to address the needs of young adults with severe learning disabilities in their transition from school-to-school or school-to-work.

Parents and professionals first identified the need to help this population with their living arrangements. Life Skills Foundation agreed to serve a small group of adults with learning disabilities (LD) through its supported living program, and the Productive Living Board of St. Louis County (PLB) approved funding in 1991. 20 individuals moved into their own apartments through this collaboration.

Social isolation was recognized as another major hurdle for young adults with LD. As a result of unemployment and underemployment, many have a great deal of time on their hands, but they do not have the social skills or the confidence to be active or creative with how they use that time. The “Leisure and Learning” program was developed in 1992 and funded in part by the PLB to assist 30 individuals in achieving better social skills. The program served 80 individuals by 2004 and has now touched more than 500 lives.

In February 2010, the Pathways program was selected for a pilot project with mid-year funding from the St. Louis Office for Developmental Disabilities (DD Resources) for up to eight City of St. Louis residents. This grant was renewed and increased beginning July 1, 2010 for 10 City of St. Louis residents.

In September of 2012, funding was secured from the Developmental Disability Resource Board of St. Charles County (DDRB), and services began in October to serve 30 residents in St. Charles County. Organizational capacity was increased through additional full-time staff members.

In 2012, facing changes in funded delivery models by the PLB, Pathways initiated a strategic planning process that more clearly defined the program structure into three distinct projects. In doing so, Pathways consciously chose to provide some services that would likely not be funded in part by the PLB but would be eligible for funding from the other local SB-40 Boards (DD Resources and DDRB). The three projects were Social Growth and Expansion, Social College and Self-Directed Community Interaction Skills.

In October of 2013, Pathways discontinued its relationship with PLB as a result of changing funding priorities. Funding was obtained through DD Resources, DDRB, participant fees, donations, foundation grants and fundraising events to provide social skill development and self-advocacy training, which assisted approximately 140 participants in achieving their individual goals toward independence, community engagement and meaningful personal relationships. Pathways services were further refined over the following years and processes were solidified for developing Individual Support Plans and measuring progress on goals for Pathways participants.

In 2016, Pathways approached the Productive Living Board about receiving funding to support 100 Pathways participants living in St. Louis County. In September of 2017, PLB entered into a funding agreement with Pathways to support existing programs.

Pathways established a new theory of change, new program outcomes and revised program descriptions to reflect current/best practices in 2018. The four programs include Social Growth, Social Focus, Social College and Growth and Potential (GAP).

In 2019, Pathways completed a strategic plan. The plan identified the organization’s core values and desire to further strengthen existing programs (aging populations), expand to a younger age group (16-17 years old), build programming to connect families, develop a new innovative program to strengthen participant integration into their community and double the number of participants supported by 2022 to 300. In 2019, Pathways also expanded its programs to Jefferson County with the establishment of a funding agreement with DD Advocates of Jefferson County.