A Historic Day For STARAbility

Dear STARability family,

We are excited to share a major milestone that marks a new chapter for our organization and the community we serve. Today, Nov. 19, STARability officially broke ground on our future campus at 2655 Northbrooke Drive in Naples. This moment signals not just the construction start of our new home, but a celebration of a new place that will open the door to more opportunities, more connection and more room for our STARs to shine.

A highlight of the day was the unveiling of the Golisano Program Center, named in honor of Tom Golisano and made possible by his $10 million in transformative leadership gifts to STARability. We are honored to name our new center in Tom’s honor in recognition of his long-standing belief in STARability and his commitment to creating a more inclusive future for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Our new campus will give us the space and flexibility to meet a rapidly growing need. Today, more than 370 STARs participate in our programs each year, and we welcome about 75 individuals to daily programs. This new campus changes that future. When fully built, we expect to serve 1,000 people annually, welcome 180 STARs each day and eliminate the daily program waitlist.

This is a first-of-its-kind project for Southwest Florida, and we are grateful to the partners bringing it to life, including Connor+Gaskins Studio, Stofft Cooney Architects, Lisa Kahn Designs, Architectural Land Design and Davidson Engineering. Their expertise and heart reflect the spirit of our mission.

Thank you for being part of this moment. Whether you are a parent, participant, volunteer, donor or community partner, you have helped build the foundation that made this step possible. We can’t wait to share more updates as construction progresses and to welcome you to our new home.

With gratitude,

Karen Govern
Chief Executive Officer