Beth Kinnare says that the employees at her organization come to work because they care.

That couldn't be truer of Beth herself.

Beth is the assistant executive director for SARAH Tuxis Residential & Community Resources, Inc., in Guilford, an organization that provides support and residential services for people with disabilities. Tuxis celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall.

A native of St. Louis, Beth has been with the SARAH organization for 22 years-ever since she moved to Madison in the late 1980s with her husband Shawn.

"After college, I was going to go on to graduate school, but I got a job as a job coach and I immediately liked the satisfaction I got from helping somebody," Beth says. "So when I moved out here and found out there was an agency in Guilford, it seemed like the perfect fit."

Over the years, Beth says she's held practically every job at Tuxis, which employs about 200 people, including positions in direct support, as program manager, and in human resources.

"I have respect for the direct support professionals and managers who make it possible for our agency to provide such quality support," she says.

Shortly after moving to the shoreline, Beth became pregnant with her first daughter, Katren, and says she thinks that the job has made her a better "parent, citizen, and neighbor" since the beginning: "It's great, the whole thing intertwines with my life.

"You have to look at each person as an individual person and I don't think I would have done that with my kids without having [had] my job," Beth says.

She says that her work with Tuxis is important because the organization helps people with disabilities live independently.

"They may not have their dreams or ideas or thoughts heard if we didn't have people working in a field like this solely to provide supports for them," Beth says. "Years ago, people with developmental disabilities lived in institutions and were taken care of, but their spirits and minds weren't nurtured. Now, that's what we do."

In the 20 years she's been with Tuxis (since its founding), Beth says she's seen the organization come a long way.

"We really do whatever a person needs," Beth says. "It's true and we really believe that the people we support are our bosses."

Beth says one of the things she has enjoyed most over the years is watching the organization incorporate more self-determination into its services and programs, for example, asking in what town people with disabilities want to live or how they want to decorate a bedroom.

"It gives you the flexibility to be creative and to have ideas," Beth says.

Beth cites new developments such as a recent talent show or new self-advocacy groups such as The Golden Girls, a group of older women who meet once a month. Another group recently wrote letters to legislators to have the word "retarded" removed from official use.

"Now, we're much more about self-determination," she says. "It's a chance for people to close their eyes and dream and it's a much more realistic, happy way to look at things."

In addition to her work with SARAH Tuxis, Beth was a Girl Scout troop leader for seven years when her now college-aged daughter was in elementary school.

"We had so much fun just doing community service work and it was so much fun!" Beth says. "They'll all be graduating from college this year and I was already thinking about a reunion."

Beth also belongs to the Lutheran Church of Madison, at which she taught Sunday school for 10 years and served as director of the church's bible school for five years.

"We would do crafts, games, songs, and it was so fun," Beth says. "I really enjoy being around kids and they're just people, too. They teach you so much about life."

"We [SARAH Tuxis] consider our employees our family," says Beth, whose own family consists of Shawn, Kaitrin, and two other children, Kelsey and Cullen, both students at Madison's Daniel Hand High School.

Because Tuxis is currently hiring, Beth points out that she "always tells new employees that we can teach you almost anything you need to know.

"But the biggest thing is your attitude about life and your enthusiasm and positivity," she concludes.