A desire to provide more meaningful support for individuals with disabilities and their families led Sarah Roby to launch Commonwealth Connections just four years ago.
Now, the Owensboro-based Medicaid waiver provider is preparing for its biggest step yet by moving into the former Daviess County Public Schools Learning Center on Parish Plaza Drive, a facility nearly triple the size of its current location.
“It really just came from seeing a need and wanting to do more,” Roby said.
Commonwealth Connections, founded in 2022, provides services for individuals with disabilities through Kentucky’s Supports for Community Living and Michelle P. waiver programs. Services include adult day training, behavior support, residential care, companionship and community living supports, and transportation assistance.
The organization’s new home at 1700 Parish Plaza Drive previously housed DCPS special education programs and other district services. Roby said the larger facility will allow Commonwealth Connections to continue growing while expanding into additional therapies and supported employment services.
“We’re really passionate about helping our individuals get out there and get jobs,” Roby said. “That’s such a need here in Owensboro and really statewide and nationwide.”
Roby began her career as a special education teacher with Daviess County Public Schools before later teaching in Hancock County. While she loved teaching, she said she increasingly felt called to help students and families beyond the classroom.
“I really felt like if we could help parents have better resources and help them better serve their own children in their homes, then we’re going to make a bigger difference,” Roby said.
That calling eventually led her into Medicaid waiver services, where she worked as a behavior support specialist helping children and adults with disabilities develop coping strategies and life skills.
One particular experience ultimately convinced her to start her own agency.
Roby recalled visiting a woman attending an adult day program years ago and finding her sitting alone in a dark room.
“She was crying and said, ‘It’s as if they don’t even know I exist,’” Roby said. “She needed more. She needed to be given some type of purpose in life, not just a coloring sheet.”
Roby said she went home in tears and told her husband she felt compelled to create something different.
“I said, ‘I don’t have any idea how I’m going to do this. I’ve never owned a business. I don’t have a business degree. I’m completely out of my comfort zone in this, but I’m going to figure it out,’” she said.
Commonwealth Connections officially launched in June 2022. Roby said the agency had three clients by the end of its first month and 12 participants by the end of that year.
Today, the organization serves more than 48 participants across its programs and employs 27 staff members.
Among the services offered are adult day training programs where participants work on life skills, attend classes, and socialize with peers. The agency also provides two forms of residential care.
One is a family home provider model, sometimes referred to as adult foster care, where families open their homes to individuals with disabilities.
“It’s a really cool service,” Roby said. “They live enmeshed in that family.”
The agency also operates two fully staffed residential homes where up to three individuals live together with around-the-clock support for medical care, hygiene, meal preparation, and daily living activities.
Roby said staffing has been one of the biggest learning curves in building the business, but she believes the organization has developed a strong culture centered on compassion and purpose.
“People need to feel loved and valued and welcome,” she said. “That’s not just my clients. Those are my staff as well.”
Her husband joined the organization in 2023 and serves as a registered nurse on staff, allowing the agency to provide a higher level of medical support than many similar programs. Roby also hopes to eventually add occupational therapy and other services in the new facility.
The move into the former Learning Center also carries symbolic meaning for Roby, whose roots remain in education and special services.
“One of the populations that we really have never met the needs of as a society are those high schoolers that are transitioning out of high school,” Roby said. “All of a sudden, they have nothing. Where do they go? What do they do?”
Roby said Commonwealth Connections hopes to help fill that gap by providing purpose, opportunities, and community for individuals navigating adulthood after school.
“Our mission here at Commonwealth Connections is that every single person feels loved and valued and welcomed and as if they have a purpose,” Roby said. “As long as we’re doing that, I’d say we’re pretty successful.”
More information about Commonwealth Connections can be found at commonwealthconnections.org/.
