History of The Corliss Community
The Corliss Institute, Inc. was established as a Rhode Island 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization in 1982. Its broadly-stated mission of service to the deaf community inspired a dedicated group of volunteers, but its ability to pursue its mission in its first few years was limited by a lack of office space, employees and funding.
In 1985, circumstances changed dramatically for Corliss and Corliss began to grow after a local couple approached Corliss with a plan for establishing an independent living home for their deaf daughter. Starting with one resident-client and a few recent graduates from the local state school for the deaf who occasionally came during the day for independent living training and support, the Corliss Center was born.
At its inception, the Corliss Center consisted of an executive director, the present "day center" (half of which at that time was rented to a book store); and two other buildings with a total of four apartments available for residential clients in Warren, Rhode Island.
Corliss soon began to attract additional clients, making additional space and staff a necessity. Support from the Rhode Island Foundation, the Champlin Foundation, the State of Rhode Island and private sources enabled Corliss to acquire the additional properties and staff required. Eventually, Corliss came to occupy the entire day center plus an additional building for staff including a large conference room for meetings.
Today, Corliss has evolved into a unique community in its Warren hometown. We now own dozens of multi-family residential and condominium units, most of which are occupied by deaf persons, and serve dozens of deaf resident and day members with programs providing substantial spillover benefits in the form of employment, education and training to the larger deaf and hearing communities.
Over the years, our members have come to us from a variety of locations, including such far away places as China and Borneo. Some come to learn and then return to be near their families. Others remain in the community, continuing to receive our services or living independently, drawing upon the social and cultural support our community provides. And several of our former members have become part of our staff, which now numbers about fifty full and part-time employees, the majority of which are deaf, making us the largest employer of deaf persons in the State of Rhode Island.