Volunteering & Giving Back
Animal shelters, food pantries, community gardens, library shelving. Being useful changes how people see themselves — and how the neighborhood sees them.
ODP · Community Participation Support
Community Participation Support in Philadelphia
Building connections.
A real week in the real community — volunteering, classes, friendships, SEPTA travel training — with a trained professional alongside your loved one. If they have a Pennsylvania ODP waiver, it costs your family $0 out-of-pocket.
Licensed & Qualified ODP Provider
All 3 ODP Waivers Accepted
$0 Out-of-Pocket With a Waiver
What is Community Participation Support? CPS is an ODP waiver service that pays for a trained professional to support someone with a disability while they take part in community life — volunteering, classes, recreation, faith groups, or simply spending time in shared public spaces. Unlike older day-program models, most of the time is meant to be spent out in the community rather than inside a facility.
Building Connections. Empowering Lives.
Community Participation Support starts from a simple question: what does this person actually want their week to look like? Not what a program schedule says. Not what's convenient for a building. What they want.
From there we build around it. Someone who loves animals might volunteer at a shelter in Holmesburg. Someone who wants friends might join a weekly group at a Parks & Rec centre. Someone working toward a job might practice the Market–Frankford Line, the interview, the small talk. The support professional is there to make it possible, then gradually step back as confidence grows.
Every hour is authorized through your Individual Support Plan and coordinated with your Supports Coordinator, so what happens on a Tuesday afternoon connects directly to the outcomes your team already agreed on.
ODP Office
Philadelphia
Serving all of Philadelphia CountyPhiladelphia
& families statewide across PA
(484) 229-3455
[email protected] Monday – Friday · 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
What Community Participation Looks Like
No two schedules look the same. These are the directions families most often choose.
Friendships & Social Groups
Regular meetups, clubs, community centre programs. The goal is relationships that outlast the service hours, not just supervised activity.
Classes & Learning
Art, cooking, music, computer skills, fitness. Adult education and rec-centre courses chosen because the person wants them, not because they were assigned.
Getting Around the City
Practising SEPTA routes, paratransit, walking the block safely. Independent travel is often the single skill that unlocks everything else.
Exploring Work
Job shadowing, workplace tours, volunteering that builds a résumé. A low-pressure way to find out what kind of work might fit before committing.
Faith & Cultural Life
Worship, cultural events, neighbourhood festivals. Support to stay part of the communities a family already belongs to.
How to Get Started
Four steps, and we handle the coordination on most of them.
1
Reach out
Call (484) 229-3455 or send the request form. Tell us a little about the person and what they'd like to be doing.
2
Check the ISP
We contact your Supports Coordinator to confirm Community Participation Support is authorized in the Individual Support Plan, and how many hours.
3
Match the right person
We pair a support professional based on shared interests and the specific support needs — not simply who has an open slot that week.
4
Start and adjust
Services begin, usually within two weeks of authorization. We review what's working with you and adjust the plan as goals shift.
Free to ask — no obligation, ever
No contracts — provider choice is your right
No service gaps when you switch to us
Licensed, Qualified & Serving All of Pennsylvania
LicensedQualified Pennsylvania ODP provider
3ODP Medicaid waivers accepted — all of them
67Pennsylvania counties served statewide
100%Background-checked, state-trained staff
Serving All of Philadelphia — and All 67 PA Counties
The kinds of places we go
- Free Library branches and their public programs
- Philadelphia Parks & Recreation centres and pools
- Community gardens, food pantries and animal shelters
- Adult education classes, gyms and art studios
- SEPTA bus and Market–Frankford Line travel training
- Places of worship and neighbourhood events
Neighbourhoods we serve — all of them
Our ODP team is based in Northeast Philadelphia, and we support families in every neighborhood of Philadelphia County — these are simply the areas we're in most often:
TorresdaleHolmesburgMayfairBustleton
SomertonFox ChaseRhawnhurstFrankford
KensingtonOlneyNorth PhiladelphiaWest Philadelphia
South PhiladelphiaCenter City
+ every neighborhood in between
And Miracle Makers doesn't stop at the city line — we proudly serve all 67 counties across Pennsylvania, including neighboring Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester counties. If you're in PA, you're in our coverage area.
Questions Families Ask Us
What is Community Participation Support?
Community Participation Support (CPS) is a Pennsylvania ODP waiver service. It funds a trained support professional to be alongside someone with an intellectual disability, autism or developmental delay while they take part in community life — volunteering, classes, recreation, faith communities, travel training or social groups. ODP designed it to move away from facility-based day programs, so the majority of time is meant to be spent out in real community settings.
Which waivers cover Community Participation Support?
All three ODP waivers Miracle Makers is qualified under: the P/FDS Waiver (Person/Family Directed Support), the Community Living Waiver and the Consolidated Waiver. Whether CPS is authorized, and for how many hours, is decided in the Individual Support Plan — not by the provider. Call (484) 229-3455 if you'd like help finding out what's in yours.
Is this the same thing as a day program?
No — that's the whole point of the service. Traditional day programs bring people into a building and run activities there. CPS is built around being out in the community, doing what the individual chose, alongside people who aren't paid to be there. Some group activity is fine, but a facility should not be where most of the time is spent.
Is support one-to-one or in a group?
Either, depending on what the Individual Support Plan authorizes and what the person actually wants. Some people do best one-to-one, especially early on. Others get more out of a small group where friendships can form. We'll talk through both with you and your Supports Coordinator.
Does it cost our family anything?
No. ODP waiver services are funded through Pennsylvania Medical Assistance. Families approved for a waiver do not pay Miracle Makers directly for authorized services. Any cost-sharing is determined by the state, not the provider.
How many hours of CPS can someone receive?
The hours come from the Individual Support Plan, and the ceiling depends on the waiver. The P/FDS Waiver has an annual funding cap set by the state; the Community Living Waiver has a higher cap; the Consolidated Waiver has no annual dollar cap. Your Supports Coordinator sets the authorized hours with your team — and if the current hours aren't enough, we can help you make the case for more at your next ISP meeting.
What ages do you support?
ODP waiver services support both children and adults, and CPS schedules are most common for adults and transition-age youth — people building a life after high school. What's available at each age depends on the waiver and the Individual Support Plan, so call (484) 229-3455 and we'll confirm exactly what applies to your family member.
We don't have a waiver yet — how do we register in Philadelphia?
In Philadelphia, waiver eligibility starts with registering through Philadelphia Intellectual disAbility Services (IDS), the county program office. They determine eligibility and assign a Supports Coordinator, who builds the Individual Support Plan. We can't approve eligibility ourselves — no provider can — but call us first anyway: we'll tell you exactly who to contact, what documents to gather and what to expect, free of charge, so you aren't navigating the system alone.
Who decides what activities happen?
The individual does, with their team. Preferences get documented in the Individual Support Plan, and we build the schedule from there. If something isn't working — wrong activity, wrong time of day, wrong fit — say so and we change it. That's expected, not a complaint.
Can we switch to Miracle Makers from another provider?
Yes. Provider choice is your right under ODP, and you can change at any time. Tell your Supports Coordinator you'd like to move to Miracle Makers Home Care — they handle the paperwork and we coordinate the transition so services aren't interrupted.
What areas do you cover?
All of Philadelphia County — every neighborhood, from Torresdale and Mayfair in the Northeast to West Philadelphia, South Philadelphia and Center City.
Do you serve areas outside Philadelphia County?
Yes — Miracle Makers proudly serves all 67 counties across Pennsylvania. Families in Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester counties reach us most often after Philadelphia, but wherever you are in the state, call (484) 229-3455 and we'll talk through support in your area.
More Ways We Support Your Family
Community Participation Support is one of four ODP services under one roof — most families combine two or more.
In-Home & Community SupportsEveryday living skills, taught not done-for
Companion ServicesConsistent company, safety and family respite
Life Skills DevelopmentCooking, budgeting, travel and self-advocacy
Or see everything in one place on our Intellectual Disability Care hub for Philadelphia.
The Right Week Won't Build Itself. Let's Start It.
Tell us a little about the person and their interests — we'll tell you exactly what Community Participation Support could look like for them, and what your waiver already covers. The conversation is free, and it usually takes one call.
Request Community Participation Support
Tell us about the individual and we'll follow up within one business day.