Our History

Lewis County Work Opportunities (LCWO) was founded in April 1971 by a group of concerned citizens. It first opened its doors one year later in April of 1972 in a covered garage on 21st Street in Chehalis with four clients.

At the time of its founding, LCWO was established as a nonprofit, nonsectarian corporation with the sole purpose of educating and enabling adults with disabilities in Lewis County, Washington, so that they could prepare for the future and find their place in our community. LCWO has continued to offer its clients vocational and educational training since its start in 1971.

By 1975, LCWO had grown to serve 18 adults with disabilities; creating a clear need to expand its facility and assist more adults with disabilities who were being referred by the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). An opportunity presented itself in the form of Referendum 37 which helped communities develop workshops throughout Washington State. The LCWO main facility was built utilizing these funds.

In 1982, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust provided a grant to LCWO that enabled the construction as lean-to building that provided workstations for the growing number of clients of LCWO. In 2004, part of the lean-to was replaced with funds from the Boeing Employees Community Fund which provided clients with a much safer working environment. In 2008, another donation by the Boeing Employees Community Fund enabled LCWO to replace the rest of the lean-to and add a third building.

During the past forty three years LCWO has continued to grow and helped over 3,000 adults with disabilities now occupies two acres on Sears Road in the Chehalis Industrial Park

 

Our 1st Building

Our Building Today