Your membership gift helps the Key Training Center serve over 300 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, each with their own unique and inspiring story.
For the past 25 years, Carolyn has been surrounded by love and support, truly embodying L. Frank Baum’s famous quote from The Wizard of Oz: “There’s no place like home."
Dear Friends,
Do you remember that moment in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy clicks her heels and whispers, “There’s no place like home”? Now imagine being eighty-two years old, living with an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD), and not knowing if you’ll ever feel that kind of peace again. That’s the real-life story of Carolyn Trammell.
Like Dorothy, Carolyn was swept up in a whirlwind—not by a tornado, but by life’s unexpected storms. She lost her adoptive parents, had no remaining family, and with no state funding, she was left without a clear path forward. She was just another name on Florida’s growing waiting list. A list with over 22,000 people with I/DD, many waiting for services for more than a decade.
But thanks to you, our donors, Carolyn’s yellow brick road led somewhere beautiful. In 2000, Carolyn arrived at the Key Training Center, unsure of what would come next. But like the Emerald City at the end of the journey, the Key Center became a place of hope, stability, and belonging. Even without state funding, we welcomed her into our community, and for 25 years, she thrived in a Key Center apartment, surrounded by care and friendship.
We couldn’t click our heels to get her funded, but we had something even better: you. It was your donations that helped her find a place to call home.
Then, in 2024, the winds shifted again. Carolyn could no longer live alone. She remained on the waiting list, just another name among many others. Because of your generosity, we were able to provide Carolyn with the additional care she needed immediately. We worked with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to eventually secure the funding she deserved—but at that crucial time, your donations bridged the gap. Thanks to you, Carolyn didn’t have to leave the only home she’d known for decades. Today, she lives safely and happily in a Key Center group home, still surrounded by the people she calls her family.
Carolyn’s journey reminds us that every person on that waiting list isn’t just a number; they’re someone’s daughter, sister, or friend looking for a place to feel safe, known, and loved. No magic wand fixes the statewide service gap. But there is you. By donating, volunteering, attending our events, or shopping at Key Thrift Stores, you help us give people like Carolyn a chance to say, “There’s no place like home.”
Help us continue being the heart behind the curtain—the ones working quietly and compassionately to make miracles happen. Because for the 22,000 Floridians still waiting, your support is the way home. Be someone’s yellow brick road. Donate today.
Donating made easy! Text CAROLYNT to 41444 or Click Here!
