The New Tom & Mary Tomlinson Vocational Center Educates and Empowers Individuals with developmental disabilities

San Diego CA— TERI, a San Diego-based nonprofit organization serving individuals with developmental disabilities is set to open its Vocational Center at the first-of-its-kind, world-class Charles R. Cono TERI Campus of Life in San Marcos. The building, named the Tom & Mary Tomlinson Vocational Center, will celebrate its grand opening on September 23. The Vocational Center is the second building of eight additional Centers to be built onsite, following TERI’s Therapeutic Equestrian Center which was completed in 2015.
The new Vocational Center, built by Escondido, CA-based PRAVA Construction Services, features a retail shop with a café and vocational training opportunities for individuals with special needs. The retail shop, Sheri’s – A Unique Boutique and Common Grounds Café and Coffee Bar, will open to the public in early October. The Center is designed to provide vocational training to individuals with disabilities. It also serves as a community resource for local businesses and residents, offering space for meetings, clubs, and events.
CEO and Founder Cheryl Kilmer says, “To create a facility that is unique in the world and meets the holistic needs of developmentally disabled children and adults is humbling and exciting to say the least. TERI’s Campus of Life outreach will extend far beyond those whose lives are directly enriched with its creation. Those individuals will then in turn share that impact with others, and those with others, shining a light on abilities awareness, cultivating kindness, and believing in the individual potential within each of us.”
Set on 20 acres in North San Diego County, TERI’s Campus of Life’s mission is to change the way the world views and helps children and adults impacted by special needs. As construction plans continue, TERI’s professional staff refines and adds groundbreaking programs to this internationally recognized center of innovation and social change for children and adults touched by autism and other developmental disabilities. TERI fosters the unique skills and creativity in each person they serve so those individuals can be as independent and self-reliant as possible.
The Campus, the only project of its kind, is purposefully created to be sustainable in every sense of the word. Incorporating renewable energy and 40 additional environmentally friendly features, the facility has also integrated state-of-the-art technology throughout. By minimizing its ecological footprint, The Campus intends to show leadership in sustainable, adaptive design.
Future site plans include eight additional buildings operating a health and wellness center, aquatics center, culinary institute, fine arts center, performing arts and music centers, country day school, learning academy, child development center, founder’s center and more. TERI’s certified organic farming will be expanded at the Campus offering 6.5 acres of additional space to cultivate fruits, herbs, and produce for use in its culinary, residential, and retail programs. Once the Campus is built out, current facilities in Oceanside and San Marcos will relocate to the Campus. Fundraising efforts continue as plans for Campus completion move forward.
Kilmer states, “The funding and resources needed to complete the Campus is of course, enormous. The TERI family is incredibly grateful to the individuals and organizations who have donated money and time to move this incredibly special facility forward and ultimately completion.”
For more information on TERI, please contact Kim Jacklin, Chief Development Officer at (760) 547-1970, kim.jacklin@teriinc.org, or visit https://www.teriinc.org/.