About Melwood

History

It was a bold idea for its time. Melwood started in 1963 when a small group of parents and supporters decided to teach plant care to young adults who were considered by most to be untrainable, and unemployable. Their goal was almost unheard of: jobs for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Andrews Air Force Base donated seven acres of undeveloped land along rural Dower House Road in Prince George's County, along with one surplus tent, and Melwood´s first trainees went to work growing plants.

In 1966 Earl Copus became Director — and at the time, he was Melwood’s only full-time employee. Over the following decades, Melwood would pioneer many new milestones in the field that would be known as social-entrepreneurial ventures: businesses with the ´double bottom line´ of providing revenue as well as jobs and independence for people with developmental disabilities.

The first successes came in horticulture. Melwood crews raised plants and sold them at work sites around the Washington D.C. area. That work led to groundskeeping and landscaping work, where Melwood crews surprised many people with their good, dependable work.

Next came custodial work, aided by the 1971 Javits-Wagner-O´Day Act, providing for federal jobs for Americans with disabilities who could show they are able to do a fair day's work for a fair day´s pay.

In 1971 Melwood purchased a 108-acre farm in rural Charles County, Maryland. The plan was to teach farming as an enhancement to the horticultural training already underway. However, recreation soon became the big attraction on the scenic site. Today it´s home to Kamp A-Kom-Plish, an inclusive camp for kids with and without disabilities, as well as Access Adventures, Melwood´s travel service that takes adults with disabilities on fun trips and getaways to destinations near and far, and the Melwood Retreat Center, offering meeting and event facilities in a beautiful countryside location.

Through the 1970´s, Melwood workers and staff continued to show they could turn in fully competent and dependable work, and Melwood´s contracts grew in size and number. The number of people served grew from 25 in 1970 to more than 100 in 1975, the year the budget exceeded $1 million.

By the mid 1980´s Melwood employed more than 300, and the budget surpassed $5 million.

In 1998 Melwood signed its first Complete Facility Management contract, and Melwood was entirely responsible for the day-to-day operation of the USDA´s new 350,000 square-foot George Washington Carver Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where 1300 people work.

Melwood´s current workforce includes more than 1000 people with disabilities working at more than 70 contract sites around the Washington region.

Melwood´s largest contract is a custodial contract for the entire U.S. Naval Academy, totaling more than 150 workers. Other sites include F.B.I. Headquarters, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Museum and the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Training and employment for a wide range of occupations is Melwood’s goal for people with disabilities. Mail handling, office work, reception, medical technical work and store stocking are among the growing number of occupations available or soon to be within reach for Melwood trained workers. Pioneering new methods to provide more people with disabilities the careful training they need to become proud and valuable members of the workforce in their communities is a key part of Melwood’s mission.

Melwood continues to seek new methods to provide more people with disabilities the crucial careful training they need to become proud and valuable members of the workforce in their communities.

In addition, Melwood operates a training center that graduates more than 60 workers each year, a 108-acre inclusive camp Kampakomplish for people with and without disabilities in beautiful Charles County, Maryland, a travel service Access Adventures for adults with disabilities and 32 supported living residences.