Melwood advocates for and empowers people with disabilities by expanding opportunities to work and thrive in the community

Melwood was founded on three key principles: innovation, inclusion, and social good. We’re deeply rooted in these principles on which we built a vibrant organization and inspired a community. Melwood supports children, youth, and adults with disabilities to work and play where and how they choose. We provide employment, job training, life skill improvement, supportive and recreational services to more than 2,000 people with disabilities each year.

We provide services to a wide range of clients in the private sector as well as to state and local governments and the federal government. Our customers have entrusted to us their routine and specialized needs. Furthermore, we operate 60 federal contracts, delivering high-quality total facility management, custodial, ground-keeping, and recycling services at 43 sites in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia.

Mission & Values

Vision of Empowerment
Melwood’s vision is a world that fully includes people with disabilities.

We are sincerely grateful to our dedicated group of donors who believe in our vision and are loyal supporters of our mission. Melwood advocates for and empowers people with disabilities by expanding opportunities to work and thrive in the community

Our Values

• Commitment to People: Our priority is to assist people with disabilities to create full and meaningful lives of their choosing. We value our employees’ achievements in supporting this priority. We ensure they understand how their responsibilities fit into Melwood’s success, provide them with the skills and resources they need, assess their performance fairly, and recognize their outstanding contributions.
• Quality: Melwood will be a model for other organizations by providing programs and services that exceed the expectations of the individuals and businesses we serve, staff, and licensing/certification standards.
• Teamwork: Together we are Melwood. We know that to be successful, we must work across organizational boundaries. We collaborate, listen, share information, and provide mutual support within Melwood and with our partners to achieve our goals.
• Initiative: Our employees are self-starters. They take pride in their work, continually looking for ways to improve the services we provide to our clients and customers, and for ways to make other employees more effective and productive. They are never satisfied with anything less than the best for those we serve.
• Innovation: Our flexibility allows us to take advantage of opportunities in our continually changing environment to pursue new ideas and creative solutions that help us improve the lives of people with disabilities.
• Stewardship: When making decisions that commit Melwood’s human and financial resources, we consider if the expenditures help to achieve our mission and ensure our long-term economic viability.
• Integrity: We inspire trust through personal and professional leadership, honesty in our relationships, decisions consistent with our values, and individual accountability for our actions.