Vine Village has 2 primary program
components:
- Residential
Living in three comfortable, family-like homes located just outside the
city limits (for easy access and full inclusion in the greater Napa
community) on a beautiful 25-acre working ranch and vineyard.
- Vine Village Arts
- day activity
center based around the arts and empowering clients to participate in the
creative process.
Vine Village provides a family-style residential program and daytime activities
program for people who live throughout the Napa and North Bay areas. Our annual Celebration, with its
terrific Wine Auction, is a major source of support. Another source of
self-support is our vineyard that produces Carneros Chardonnay Wine. Vine Village,
Inc. has been directed by Michael Kerson since 1973.
Vine Village was founded in
1973 by George and Grace Kerson and Dante Bagnani: two families with
developmentally disabled children.
The Kerson and Bagnani
families wanted an alternative to the isolation of "independent living" and
to the rigidity and depersonalization of large institutions. They wanted
more vocational options, which reflect community values as well as
individual differences and interests.
In short, they
wanted their children with special needs to have the same quality of life as
their non-handicapped peers.
The
Kerson's son, Michael, and his wife, Nancy, have continuously directed Vine
Village's growth and progress since 1973. Their daughter, Saanen, joined the
staff in 2007. Today, Vine Village occupies a
beautiful 25-acre ranch in the famed Carneros grape-growing region of
southern Napa County, California.
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