Pioneer Center

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Case study | Pioneer Center
Helping achieve potential
What started as a day school for children
with developmental disabilities in McHenry
County, Illinois, Pioneer Center has grown and
prospered greatly since 1958. Today, Pioneer
Center services approximately 4,800 annually
by oering programs and services in three key
areas:
• Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities
• Behavioral Health Services
• Homeless Services including community-
based group homes
“Pioneer Center’s mission has always been
to empower individuals to achieve their
full potential, and today, learning to use
technology goes hand-in-hand with that,” says
President and Chief Executive Ocer Jackie
Wells.
For adults with intellectual and developmental
disabilities, Pioneer Center often picks up
where traditional public schools end: helping
clients to set and achieve personal goals,
whether they’re focused on the simple
activities of daily living, having a career, or
volunteering in the community.
“In the past, services provided by agencies
like ours focused on routine tasks. Too often,
technology wasn’t utilized,” says DJ Newport,
director of Vocational and IDD Day Services.
“We’re using every available tool to make the
transition to adult life after school smoother
and our clients more productive.”
“ Pioneer Center’s mission has
always been to empower
individuals to achieve their
full potential, and today,
learning to use technology
goes hand-in-hand with that.”
– Jackie Wells, President and Chief Executive Ocer
Sometimes clients are happy to play on
a computer. But Pioneer Center’s trained
sta seizes on opportunities to make every
moment a teachable moment. They challenge
clients to use whatever computer-based tools
they can — from video calling applications
like Skype, to creative programs and even
productivity tools including Microsoft® Oce.
“By building technical skills, we hope to open
the employment doors for many of our folks,
in order for them to play a more active role in
the community,” says Wells.
Unfortunately, technology itself also presents
barriers. Some clients are unable to master a
keyboard and mouse due to diculties with
ne motor skills. Pioneer Center has tried using
touch-based consumer tablets, but nd they’re
often too small for the clients’ use.
“ It just struck me that there’s
something for everyone in
Sprout. I couldn’t wait to show
it to people here.”
– Vance Christy, IT Manager
“When considering the number of people we
serve and the dierences in their needs,” Wells
explains, “we needed a device that was really
versatile. It also needed the ability to run both
very common, as well as very specialized,
software applications.”
Sprout by HP oers new
promise
Then one day, IT Manager Vance Christy saw
the HP Sprout. He remembers it well.
“I had a sleepless night and was up late when
I saw information about the HP Sprout,” he
says. “It just struck me that there’s something
for everyone in Sprout. Then thinking about
how it seemed to overcome so many of the
barriers we faced, I couldn’t wait to show it to
people here.”
Pioneer Center soon contacted their partner
CDW to review the details. The HP Sprout is
an all-in-one computer equipped with the
HP Illuminator, which incorporates an Intel
RealSense 3D camera and projection engine;
a 20” HP Touch Mat; and a suite of creative
applications. Together, these elements
oer users the opportunity to unleash
their creativity. Users can quickly scan and
capture both 2D and 3D objects, and use the
touch-sensitive mat—which is essentially
a secondary monitor—as a touch screen to
manipulate, edit and transform the captured
image.
In addition, the mat can be used as a giant
touch screen interface to work with any
touch-enabled PC application.