Concert Violinist Candy Carson Tours and Performs at Opportunity Village
Presidential Candidate Dr. Ben Carson’s Wife Visits Opportunity Village
On Tuesday, August 4, Candy Carson, a graduate of Yale University and former concert violinist toured the Opportunity Village Engelstad Campus and performed a short program. The Opportunity Village’s Village Blend vocal group performed an opening number before Carson took the stage. At the conclusion of the program, Chief Development Officer Linda Smith and CEO Edward Guthrie of Opportunity Village presented Carson a handmade scarf created by Amanda D., an OVIP artist in the organization’s Fine and Performing Arts program.
Carson is the wife of presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson. Dr. Carson toured the campus in May and hosted a fundraiser for Opportunity Village.
About Opportunity Village
Mission: Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization that serves people within our community with significant intellectual disabilities, to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
Opportunity Village was founded in 1954 by seven families who were determined to give their children with disabilities the best lives possible. Now, more than 60 years later, Opportunity Village is one of the most recognized and respected organizations of its type in the United States.
Nevada’s largest employer of people with disabilities (who we call OVIPs), Opportunity Village serves nearly 2,000 individuals annually, providing vocational training, employment, habilitation and social recreation programs and services that make their lives more purposeful and interesting.
Opportunity Village citizens – individuals who were previously considered unemployable – work at Opportunity Village’s Employment Resource Centers and in jobs throughout the community, collectively earning wages amounting to more than $3.9 million in 2014. They are hard-working and diligent, proudly paying taxes and happily leading more fulfilling lives.
Primarily a self-funded organization, Opportunity Village generates the majority of its operational funding through its employment contracts and fundraising efforts such as the Magical Forest and Great Santa Run, saving Nevada taxpayers nearly $35 million annually.
