Liz Filter celebrating VARC, the nonprofit her dad started 50 years ago

Liz Filter in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk, celebrating the nonprofit her dad started 50 years ago, the Vernon Area Rehabilitation Center.

La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk wherever you get your podcasts.

Filter, now the president of VARC, talks about taking over, who they serve and how it’s grown — with three of its 13 locations in La Crosse.

VARC began in 1975 and now serves 1,000 annually of those with varying abilities and other barriers. VARC helps develop and provide meaningful employment, skill-building, and community inclusion services. 

The three La Crosse branches include adult and youth programs on the southside, another at the Coulee Recovery Center where people work at a coffee shop called Good Bean and an inclusive childcare center — with another one in the works.