Vista Life Innovations Inc

The information for Vista Life Innovations Inc is as of the organization's most recent filing in June 2020. This organization is located in Madison, CT. It has been in existence for 28 years, following its founding in 1992.

Organization Classification

The IRS classifies organizations according to the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) system. The NTEE system helps the IRS assign a 3-character code to each organization to describe the organization's activities.

Vista Life Innovations Inc's NTEE code is B28. The "B" tells us that the organization is classified along with Education. The "28" tells us that the organization is a Special Education organization. The NTEE describes Special Education organizations as those that provide educational services including special placement and individualized programming, instruction and support services for children and youth who are gifted or have disabilities and require appropriately modified curricula, teaching methodologies and instructional materials in order to learn.

Every organization is also governed by a specific section of the Internal Revenue Code. The most common type is a 501(c)(3) organization. However, there are actually 29 different types of organizations that are identified by the Internal Revenue Code. This organization happens to be a 501(c)(3) organization. The IRS describes these organizations as those engaged in Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Public Safety, Amateur Sports, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals work.

Perhaps the most accurate way to get a sense of what the organization hopes to achieve is by looking at its mission. The mission of Vista Life Innovations Inc is to provide services and resources to assist individuals with disabilities.

Program Areas

Program Area 1: Vista's Engage Program offers long-term, community-based services and support for individuals with disabilities who live along the shoreline towns in South Central Connecticut. Through this program, members receive support and training in the areas of life skills, employment, case management, and recreation, allowing them to develop self-awareness, individuality, self-esteem, competence, resilience, and more.

Program Area 2: The Discover Program is a tuition-based residential program for individuals who are ready to learn the skills required to successfully transition to adulthood. It offers both on- and off-campus housing opportunities, as well as core training components focused on the development of vocational, life, social and cognitive skills, and community involvement and integration.

Program Area 3: Vista offers a range of employment services from internships, volunteer opportunities and hands-on training, to paid employment. They also collaborate with state agencies to provide a broad and comprehensive range of employment services to a diverse spectrum of individuals. Through creative and individualized systems and strategy development, Vista's job coaches assist students and members in learning complex work tasks and honing the skills necessary to maintain long-term employment.

Program Area 4: Connect and Connect Through Art offers two day programming options for individuals with disabilities to gain valuable skills and experience. Connect provides a 6 hour daily fusion of productive activities, camaraderie, community involvement, social support and fun. Connect Through Art features 6 hours of daily arts instruction and expression with a myriad of community based opportunities. Vista also offers Housing, Transportation, Exploring Independence, Functional Skills Evaluation and Transition Assessment to support the individuals in their program.

Organization Staffing

Vista Life Innovations Inc has 214 employees, three of whom were paid more than $100k according to the organization's most recent 990 tax filing. Supporting the paid staff are 134 volunteers.

Board Governance

Vista Life Innovations Inc is an exemplary non-profit organization that is well-governed. With 19 voting members and 19 independent members, there is a clear separation of power and potential conflicts of interest are nonexistent. The organization has not delegated management to an outside firm, and board and committee meetings are documented, ensuring transparency and accountability. Additionally, the organization has a conflict of interest policy, requires disclosure of conflicts, and has a written whistleblower policy and document retention policy. Furthermore, leadership and officer salaries are substantiated and reviewed, and copies of the 990 are provided to the board prior to filing. All of these measures demonstrate that Vista Life Innovations Inc is a well-governed non-profit organization.

Organization Growth

Vista Life Innovations Inc has grown over the past five years. Contributions and grants received, program service revenue, other revenue, total revenue, employee salaries, total expenses, total employees and total volunteers have all increased over this period. This growth is indicative of the organization's success and commitment to its mission.