Meet Justin and Jill Vassi of Exceptional Services Group in Boca Raton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin and Jill Vassi.

It all started in 2001 when Justin and Jill were looking for an idea to start a business to provide services for individuals with special needs. Justin was working in the field of developmental disabilities and Jill for a major non-profit doing fundraising and marketing. Justin’s uncle, who has a son with autism, mentioned the lack of recreational and vacation programs for people with special needs. Justin and Jill started brainstorming, and Exceptional Vacations was born. Since they both had full time jobs they were working on nights and weekends to bring the idea to life. Vacations were planned around weekends and holidays. At the beginning Jill and Justin staffed all the trips. Jill used her marketing and business skills and Justin used his knowledge in the field to develop the program framework. As the program grew in popularity trip chaperones were added, the trip schedule was expanded and they started getting customers from all over the country and even some international travelers. Exceptional Vacations currently provides over 24 supervised tours per year. They also do custom vacations for groups, and specialize in travel for people with special needs and disabilities. Trip destinations include Disney World, Cruises, New York City, Las Vegas, Dude Ranch, Hawaii, and even international trips such as Italy, Greece and England. They always try to include the favorite destinations in their schedule and also to add new and exciting trips for their frequent and more adventurous travelers.

As the program grew, Justin and Jill realized there were other services that would be beneficial to the population. Justin was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Jill a registered yoga teacher. They began offering counseling and therapeutic services under a new division, Exceptional Wellness. Exceptional Wellness now has a team of licensed therapists that provide specialized counseling services for individuals with developmental disabilities (autism, Asperger’s syndrome, Down syndrome, etc.). Insurance is accepted. This team of therapists provide services in the Boca Raton office as well as visits to group homes, adult day training programs, and client homes. Yoga classes are held in the Boca Raton office and are scheduled for community program visits as well.

In order to better reflect the expansion of their services, the name of the company was changed to Exceptional Services Group with two divisions currently: Exceptional Vacations and Exceptional Wellness.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We started as a home based office. Jill was doing bulk mailing by hand: sorting and applying postage, etc. We were staffing all of the trips ourselves, while each with a full time job, an infant son, and another on the way. I would say there have been some obstacles. Every stage has brought new challenges. It was a big decision for each of us to leave our full time jobs and income and commit full time to the expansion of the business. Moving from a home office to a rented office in Boca Raton and hiring staff was also a big step and potential risk.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Exceptional Services Group – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Exceptional Services Group strives to improve quality of life with client centered consultation and training across the home, school, recreational and vocational environments.

To reach this goal we currently offer two divisions of services. Our Exceptional Vacations division provides high quality supervised vacation opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities and other special needs. We also arrange custom trips for groups with special needs. Our Exceptional Wellness Division offers a highly qualified team of licensed therapists. Exceptional Wellness also offers other therapeutic services such as yoga and mindfulness classes taught by registered teachers in a small class environment.

We are very proud of the impact we have had on so many lives of people with developmental disabilities. We have provided opportunities for personal growth, enrichment, travel and health for our customers. In most cases those opportunities were not available to our customers in the past.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Exceptional Wellness is continuing to expand the counseling program throughout South Florida and beyond. We are planning to open an office in Broward County in the near future. Exceptional Vacations is expanding the custom trip program to agencies that provide services to individuals with special needs around the country.

Contact Info:

• Address: Exceptional Services Group
  9070 Kimberly Blvd, Ste 50
  Boca Raton, FL 33434
• Website: http://www.exceptional-vacations.com/index.htm and http://www.exceptional-wellness.net/
• Phone: 561-852-0910
• Email: info@exceptionalservices.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Exceptional-Vacations-61328855442/?ref=bookmarks

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