A Wheelchair Lift Expands Workforce Training for Taos Youth With Disabilities

Assistance Dogs of the West, which trains more than 70 service dogs for those with disabilities, has been helping provide Taos residents between 14 and 22 with disabilities with work-based training since 2016. There is a clear need to serve more, however, and the group’s current facility in Taos needs expansion in order to accommodate wheelchairs and other equipment used by those with disabilities. So a staff member at Assistance Dogs of the West reached out to LOR with a request to help. LOR’s funding will support the costs of installing a wheelchair lift, opening up the second floor, expanding this essential paid, work-based learning program for youth with disabilities and providing a space to host community trainings.