Autism Acceptance Month: Thriving Through Wellness & Holistic Health
In March we celebrated National Development Disability Awareness Month. This April, Always You honors autism acceptance by celebrating wellness in all forms.
We will film a Blueprint podcast episode with Dr. Alaina James at her Skin Mind Health wellness studio and our Founder Ondréa L. Burton, a licensed esthetician, exploring the mind-body connection.
Through Inspire Cart activations and immersive wellness experiences throughout the month, young adults with an autism diagnosis and/or developmental disability, build workforce and entrepreneurial skills and wellness habits that support vitality and lifelong growth.
What Autism Acceptance Means to Us
"We don't let it bother us too much. We are smart at technology, music, and many other things. Through Always You, we're developing workforce skills, building confidence, growing as entrepreneurs, and forming lifelong relationships. Our faith sustains us. People should focus on our strenghts and abilities. We rise when our community values us as contributors."
- Always You Participants Collective Voice
National Developmental Disability Awareness Month
March 31, 2026
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Inspire Cart ribbon cutting launch. The energy was incredible. The support was overwhelming. And the belief in what's possible? Absolutely transformational.
We honored two young entrepreneurs as our inaugural Founders Society members, launched three community programs (Club Always You, The Blueprint, and Lunch with Leaders), and celebrated the Inspire Cart, a social enterprise generating revenue while building job skills, work experience, and confidence.
Through our partnership with Hank's Frozen Custard, the Always You Victory Swirl brings delicious frozen custard to every event, with proceeds supporting the "We're on the Move" campaign to fund a 15-passenger vehicle for participant transport.
This is what happens when a community comes together around a vision of inclusion, employment, and possibility.
Your seat at the table is waiting. Dine with us. Lead with us. Change Beaver County with us.
March recognizes National Developmental Disability Awareness Month. At Always You, this observance reflects ongoing work embedded within our programming and partnerships.
As part of this month, Always You, in partnership with the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce and Club Always You, our student and participant-led leadership group, will host a ribbon cutting celebrating the launch of the Inspire Cart Social Enterprise, developing workforce readiness and entrepreneurial skills in young adults. The event will include an ice cream social featuring custard from Hank’s, including the Always You Victory Swirl, available all season, along with the premiere of the Always You Anthem.
Always You operates from the belief that preparation and access must be intentional. Our participants engage in structured leadership development, workforce exposure, and campus-based programming that strengthens professional confidence and long-term engagement within higher education and employment settings.
Throughout March, we will host and participate in initiatives that bring visibility to this work within the Community College of Beaver County and the surrounding region. These engagements reflect our commitment to sustained opportunity and institutional collaboration.
Awareness In Practice
National Developmental Disability Awareness Month reflects work that is integrated into the structure of Always You. Participants engage with higher education leaders and community partners in professional settings that support ongoing development and visibility.
The image featured here was captured in the President Roger W. Davis’ Board Room at the Community College of Beaver County during a recorded podcast conversation that included the Dean of Education and Social Sciences from Carlow University, an Assistant Professor of Special Education from Carlow University, and a regional philanthropic leader. Engagements of this nature are embedded within program design and form part of the leadership exposure participants experience.
Our work continues throughout the year as participants strengthen professional confidence and expand their presence within academic and workforce environments.