We believe everyone belongs.
Commonwealth Community Connections exists to enrich the lives of individuals with disabilities by creating opportunities for inclusion, personal growth, and meaningful community engagement.
Everyone has a seat at the table.
Because a service is not the same thing as a life.
People with disabilities may receive excellent support and still encounter barriers to fully participating in their communities.
Medicaid funding and traditional disability services are designed to provide important supports—but they cannot, and should not, be expected to fund every experience, opportunity, relationship, or dream a person may have.
Commonwealth Community Connections was created to help bridge that gap.
We raise charitable resources, build partnerships, and bring people together to make more possible: experiences, opportunities, equipment, transportation, scholarships, community initiatives, and the everyday moments that make a life meaningful.
Everyone has a seat.
The table is for everyone.
People with disabilities don't need to be given a place in their community.
They already have one.
We don't believe inclusion means making room for people who are somehow outside of the community.
We believe inclusion means recognizing that people with disabilities are already part of the community—as neighbors, friends, family members, employees, volunteers, customers, artists, leaders, and citizens.
A disability may shape the way someone sees and experiences the world.
It does not define the whole person.
The work is not about creating a separate table.
It's about making sure nothing keeps someone from taking the place that has always been theirs.
Everyone has a seat at the table.
What We Believe
〰️
What We Believe 〰️
INCLUSION
Every person deserves the opportunity to belong and participate in their community.
COMPASSION
We lead with kindness, empathy, and a genuine commitment to improving lives.
INNOVATION
We look for creative ways to remove barriers and expand opportunity.
RESPECT
We honor the dignity, individuality, choices, and voice of every person.
INTEGRITY
We steward donated resources responsibly and operate with transparency and accountability.
COLLABORATION
Stronger partnerships create stronger communities.
Our StoryCommonwealth Community Connections grew from a simple belief:
People deserve more than access to services.They deserve access to life.
Through years of working alongside individuals with disabilities, we have seen the value of excellent support—and we've also seen the limitations created when opportunities are determined by funding, systems, regulations, or whether someone happens to be connected to the "right" organization.We wanted to create something different.An organization that could work outside those limitations to help people pursue the things that matter to them.A nonprofit that doesn't need to be the center of the story.A quiet force in the background, helping turn ideas into experiences, barriers into possibilities, and opportunities into memories.Because the goal isn't for people to see what we did.The goal is for people to see what they got to do.
Who We Serve
Who is Commonwealth Community Connections for?
Everyone.
We serve the broader Owensboro community of individuals with disabilities—not a particular agency, program, or funding source.
You do not have to:
Receive services from Commonwealth Connections
Receive services from another provider
Have a Medicaid waiver
Be connected to an agency at all
If you are a person with a disability who is part of our community, there is a place for you here.
The People Behind the Work
Lori Walters
Secretary
Kelsey Skaggs
Meghan Payne
PresidentVice President
Katye Rone
Board Member
Kim Johnson
Gregory L. Moore
TreasurerBoard Member
Sarah Roby
Zachary Farmer
Board MemberFounderOlivia Hardy
Board Member