Mark your calendar for an unforgettable evening of inspiration and impact. VersAbility Resources invites you to its 2026 Annual Fundraising Gala, Hidden Talents—a celebration of the extraordinary abilities within every individual and the inclusive community that helps them shine.
Join us as we honor stories of resilience, creativity, and independence, and hear from internationally recognized speaker Jessica Cox, whose remarkable journey redefines what’s possible.
More details to come—stay tuned and save the date for a night that celebrates potential, belonging, and opportunity.
Hampton Roads Convention Center
1610 Coliseum Drive Hampton,
Virginia
+ Google Map
VersAbility Resources is celebrating a moment of well-deserved recognition for one of the region’s most dedicated community leaders.
President and CEO Kasia Grzelkowski has been named the 2025 First Citizen of the Virginia Peninsula, an honor presented annually by the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce to individuals whose leadership, service, and commitment to community represent the very best of civic life in the region.
For those who know Grzelkowski’s work, the recognition comes as no surprise.
For nearly two decades, she has led VersAbility with a steady vision rooted in compassion, collaboration, and the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to live a full and meaningful life.
Since becoming President and CEO 20 years ago, Grzelkowski has helped guide the organization through remarkable growth and transformation. Today, VersAbility supports more than 1,500 individuals each year through employment programs, community living services, and early childhood initiatives — creating pathways to independence and belonging for people with disabilities across the Virginia Peninsula.
Yet what truly defines Grzelkowski’s leadership is the way it reaches beyond any single organization.
Throughout her career, she has been a tireless advocate for partnerships that strengthen the entire community. As a past board chair of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and a contributor to numerous regional and statewide initiatives, she has consistently worked to bring together nonprofit organizations, businesses, and public institutions to solve challenges and expand opportunity.
At its heart, this recognition reflects the mission that has guided VersAbility for generations — creating communities where people of all abilities are valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
Under Grzelkowski’s leadership, that mission continues to grow in both reach and impact, ensuring that inclusion is not just an ideal, but a lived reality across the Virginia Peninsula.
A Leadership Journey Rooted in Advocacy
Accepting the award at a gala held at Christopher Newport University, Grzelkowski reflected on the early experiences that shaped her perspective on fairness, leadership, and service. Raised by parents who were sociology professors, she grew up immersed in conversations about citizenship and the responsibilities individuals share in building stronger communities.
One childhood moment offered an early glimpse of the advocate she would become. While working in her family’s apple orchard packing house as a young child, Grzelkowski discovered that her brother was being paid more for the same work. With encouragement from the women working alongside her, she created a protest sign and staged a picket for equal wages, successfully convincing her grandfather to change the pay structure.
“That determined little girl with a handmade sign and a heart for fairness grew up to become a city planner,” she told the audience during her remarks.
Her early career in planning and work with community-focused organizations ultimately led her to VersAbility nearly 20 years ago. At the time, both she and the organization’s board took a leap of faith, with Grzelkowski stepping into her first CEO role and into a field where she had not previously worked.
“Sometimes life calls us to stretch, to overcome our fears and doubts, and step up to serve at a higher level,” she said.
Advancing Opportunity for People with Disabilities
Throughout her tenure, Grzelkowski has remained deeply motivated by VersAbility’s mission to ensure individuals with disabilities have access to meaningful employment, independence, and full participation in community life.
“People with disabilities are often overlooked, their voices are not heard, and their gifts and experiences are often overlooked,” she said during her acceptance speech. “That’s the ‘why’ that drives everything we do.”
Grzelkowski emphasized that these achievements are the result of a dedicated team and strong partnerships across the region.
“I accept this honor as a reflection of a team and community that believes in shared responsibility and shared success,” she told attendees.
A Vision for the Future of Inclusion
Grzelkowski is optimistic about the future of inclusion in Hampton Roads and the Virginia Peninsula. She highlighted the importance of collaboration between business leaders, community organizations, and public institutions to create sustainable opportunity for everyone.
VersAbility continues to play a vital role in that effort by expanding workforce pathways, strengthening partnerships with employers, and helping ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to dignified lives of their choosing.
“If a little girl can stand up for fairness,” she said, “then surely we, together, can build a community where dignity and opportunity belong to everyone.”
VersAbility Resources, a Hampton-based nonprofit empowering people with disabilities through early childhood, day support, residential services, workforce training and meaningful employment, proudly announces that Zane Sanford has been named a finalist for the 2025 SourceAmerica Evelyne Villines Award, one of the organization’s most prestigious national honors.
The Evelyne Villines Award recognizes employees with disabilities across the nation who exemplify exceptional leadership, initiative and advocacy within their workplace and community. Presented annually as part of SourceAmerica’s Achievement Awards, the honor celebrates individuals whose work and dedication advance employment opportunities for people with disabilities at a time when national unemployment rates for this population remain nearly double those of people without disabilities.
Sanford began his career with VersAbility in August 2023 as a General Laborer on the Ship Provisions Program in Norfolk, which supports mission-essential naval operations throughout the Hampton Roads region. Through his professionalism, reliability and leadership, Sanford quickly earned the respect of his peers and supervisors. He was promoted to team leader in December 2024, where he now manages a team of over 50 employees and has supported an estimated 1,000 Navy ships, demonstrating the substantial trust and responsibility the organization has placed in him.
As a hearing-impaired employee, Sanford’s leadership extends beyond his job responsibilities. He has provided interpreter support for fellow 16 hearing-impaired coworkers, fostering inclusion, understanding and effective communication across his team. His ability to turn challenges into opportunities has made him a trusted leader and mentor among his peers.
“Zane’s leadership reflects the very best of Hampton Roads’ workforce,” said Kasia Grzelkowski, President and CEO of VersAbility Resources. “His work not only strengthens our support to our nation’s military but also embodies the power of inclusion and opportunity that defines our community.”
In addition to his leadership at VersAbility, Sanford represented the organization at the 2025 SourceAmerica Grassroots Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C., where he met with Congressional and Senate representatives to advocate for the AbilityOne Program and champion expanded employment opportunities for people with disabilities nationwide.
For decades, SourceAmerica’s Achievement Awards have honored nonprofits, employees and business partners for their exceptional contributions to disability employment. Winners will be announced during SourceAmerica’s annual ceremony on Dec. 3, 2025, in celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
To learn more about SourceAmerica’s Achievement Awards and view a full list of finalists, visit SourceAmerica.org.
Getting hired. Onboarding and orientation. First day on the job.
It can be stressful to start any new position. Amanda Kuzma and the nine other Employment Specialists at VersAbility Resources are there to facilitate all of those challenges and more with new hires who are part of the nonprofit’s Supported Employment Program.
More than 400 people with disabilities have jobs through this program in areas such as food service, warehousing, custodial services, retail, graphic design, hospitality, information technology, health care and more.
Employment Specialists are job coaches who help individuals with disabilities find steady employment. The person with the disability must first receive a referral from Virginia’s Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS). With that achieved, the individual and the job coach explore possible career fields based on the person’s interests and aspirations.
“We have individuals interested in stocking, cleaning, and data entry. Some are even interested in being a lawyer,” Kuzma said.
A day in the life of a job coach varies as much as it does for people with disabilities. The job coach is a liaison, offering as much or as little assistance as needed. They can help the candidate with resume preparation and/or interviewing skills.
Once the person is hired, the job coach undergoes the same training as the person hired, so if needed, they can break down the job requirements into smaller steps.
“We learn at the same time they are learning,” Kuzma said. “We meet with the employer and make sure they understand the rules of coaching, how long we’re going to be there, and how it’s of benefit to them. We don’t disclose the disability, but we’re there to make sure the training goes smoothly.”
That process often involves role-playing so the individual can feel comfortable meeting whatever issues come up during a typical day. Often, coaching is reminding the new hire of the scenario that they practiced together.
In sharing an anecdote about a new hire who was unsure of how to interact with a new co-worker, Kuzma said, “The coach stepped in and said, ‘OK. This is a situation where we need to flex our communication muscles like we practiced.’ The individual was able to say, ‘Oh, I remember how to do that!’”
Often, new hires struggle with anxiety, she said. Among the success stories Kuzma shares is a new employee attending an orientation and feeling overwhelmed by so many others in the room also taking part in onboarding.
“We were able to have our own private orientation where I explained the materials to him, and he didn’t feel like he was on display in front of a lot of other people,” Kuzma said.
On the first day of work, he asked Kuzma, “What if I make a mistake?”
“I’ll be right there to help you,” she reassured.
For the first week, Kuzma was with him every day while he worked in the memory care unit. His tasks ranged from washing dishes to monitoring residents for safety. Early on, he alerted another staffer when he saw a confused resident try to leave the unit.
“He was able to say, ‘OK. This isn’t right.” Kuzma said. “For him ,that was a huge victory.”
Kuzma continued to connect with him when challenges came up during the pandemic. She was no longer able to be there in person, so she used video calls to communicate, teaching him how to put on his PPE equipment safely.
“Five years later, he’s the highest paid dishwasher there, and he has been Employee of the Month three times,” she said. “He overcame so much through his determination.”
Versability workers clean up at Yorktown Naval Weapons Station Monday March 11, 2024.
The goal is always independence so once the new employee feels comfortable, the job coach fades out, though continues to monitor with occasional check-ins.
“Some people need us for a day; some need us for two weeks,” Kuzma said. “Everything we do is different for every person.”
But one thing that is the same: “We empower the individual the whole way through.”
When Jocelyn Hilker was born, her parents, John and Lisa, had no idea of the challenges they would face raising a child with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Diagnosed at six-months-old, Jocelyn’s disability presented daily struggles for the Hilker family. But when the family discovered VersAbility Resources, it became the turning point in their journey. It provided a solution for Jocelyn’s needs.
Early Struggles and Growing Needs
Jocelyn’s condition was challenging from the start, and as she grew older, the obstacles became even more apparent.
“When you raise a child with a disability such as Jocelyn, when they’re young, there is so much support, but as she got older, it became less and less available,” John said. “That put a tremendous amount of stress on our family.”
Jocelyn’s disability is degenerative, meaning as she aged, her abilities diminished.
“By age 10 or 12,” John said, “she had lived the best years of her life. She lost some functions and memory, and it was hard on us as parents.”
The Hilker family found themselves in a tough spot, balancing the constant care Jocelyn required with their own lives.
“The family unit all becomes about Jocelyn’s needs,” Lisa said. “And rightfully so. But as parents, you lose a little of yourself in the process.”
A New Beginning with VersAbility
Everything changed when the Hilkers found VersAbility. It wasn’t just a new care provider—it was a fresh start.
“When we found VersAbility,” John said, “it was like a breath of fresh air. It allowed Jocelyn to find independence, and for us as parents, it was life-changing.”
The Hikers discovered the Cloverleaf House, part of the community living program provided by VersAbility, and it became Jocelyn’s new home.
VersAbility provides community living and residential services at eight residential homes in Hampton, Newport News and York County. VersAbility works directly with people seeking housing support, aging parents needing assistance for adult children, families who plan to move their loved ones out of an institution or those who want a more independent living option nearby.
Caring staff provides support 24/7/365.
Finding VersAbility, for the Hilkers, was the turning point in Jocelyn’s journey to a more independent life.
“Once we found VersAbility and the Cloverleaf House, Jocelyn could go under their care and start to live more independently,” Lisa said. “It was remarkable, probably better for her than for us.”
The Power of Independence and Care
With VersAbility’s support, Jocelyn could have new opportunities. The staff at Cloverleaf House provides daily care that allows Jocelyn to make choices in her life, which was hard to achieve while living with her parents.
“Her ability to make decisions independently became real for her. And it has been a huge benefit,” John said.
Jocelyn now enjoys outings, activities and her own space.
“She loves decorating her room with butterflies, flowers and things around her,” Lisa said. “It’s her personal space. And it’s allowed her to thrive in ways we never imagined.”
Reclaiming Life for the Whole Family
As much as VersAbility helped Jocelyn, it also supported the Hilker family as a whole. The weight of caregiving that once fell solely on John and Lisa’s shoulders was now shared by VersAbility’s professional staff.
“The stress is gone now,” John said. “When we see Jocelyn, we can have fun. We’re not always considering her needs because VersAbility takes care of that.”
The Hilkers can now enjoy time with Jocelyn as a family without the emotional and physical exhaustion of constant caregiving.
“It was like a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders,” Lisa said. “We still get to be parents but don’t have to manage everything anymore.”
Advice to Other Families
John and Lisa’s story is one of hope and relief, and they want other families facing similar challenges to know that help is available.
“If you have a child or loved one with disabilities and you’re struggling, I encourage you to consider VersAbility,” Lisa said. “It was the best decision for us and Jocelyn.”
“Our lives have improved dramatically, but more importantly,” John said, “Jocelyn’s life has improved. I can’t recommend VersAbility enough.”
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