Feb 27, 2026
A First Look at the Future of UCP+ Central california
UCP+ Central California – 95% Complete and Built With Students in Mind
Megan “Mimi” Turner walks slowly toward the window in the new student lounge. Sunlight pours across the floor and catches the edges of freshly painted walls. She pauses. It is the first time she has ever seen this view from this room. Outside, steel beams frame the sky. Fresh concrete stretches across a courtyard that will soon echo with conversation, music, and laughter. The new UCP+ Central California campus rises in front of her — not as a blueprint, not as a fundraising rendering, but as something real. Solid. Waiting.
And for the first time, it is almost finished. The campus is now 95% complete. Last week, every student in the Government class at UCP+ Central California was given a “First Look” at the nearly completed campus. What they experienced was more than a walkthrough. It was a glimpse into their future.
70+ YEARS IN THE MAKING
This campus stands in Fresno, California — in the heart of Central California — where, in 1954, a small group of determined parents refused to accept the limited options available to their children with disabilities. They envisioned something better. A beautiful place where their sons and daughters could gather, socialize, learn, and simply belong.
At the time, it was an audacious dream. Seventy-plus years later, that dream stands in steel and glass.
OUTGROWING THE WALLS
Mimi is one of the 120 students in the UCP+ adult day program — a program that has long outgrown its current 14,500-square-foot building. In classrooms filled to capacity, staff make every inch count. Hallways become gathering spaces. Schedules are carefully staggered. The community thrives — but within tight walls. Now imagine nearly tripling that space. Under the leadership of Executive Director Roger Slingerman, UCP+ Central California is preparing for one of the most significant expansions in its history. The new campus will expand to more than 40,000 square feet — a transformational leap.
Room to breathe.
Room to learn.
Room to create.
DESIGNED WITH DIGNITY AT THE CENTER
This campus was not designed with accessibility as an afterthought. It was designed with accessibility at the center. It will include 12 fully accessible changing rooms, including two with showers — a feature families describe as life-changing. Quality of life here is not theoretical. It is measured in independence. In comfort. In time spent without barriers.
THE GOVERNMENT CLASS FIRST LOOK
As the Government class walked through the nearly completed building, their reactions ranged from wide-eyed silence to spontaneous smiles. Some stood speechless in the new student lounge. Others peeked into classrooms and imagined where art, music, and leadership discussions would soon take place. They understood what this space represents: a place built intentionally for them.
For many students, this was the first time the vision felt real.
Not a plan.
Not a promise.
But a place.
THE STUDENT ART STORE: CREATIVITY ON DISPLAY
One of the most breathtaking features of the new campus is the student art store — a beautifully built retail space designed with backlit shelving and an art gallery aesthetic. This is not simply a display area. It is a professional, thoughtfully curated environment where student artwork will be showcased with pride and sold to the public. The lighting highlights each brushstroke. The shelving frames every piece with intention. The space communicates something powerful: their work matters. For our students, this store represents entrepreneurship, visibility, and validation. It creates an opportunity not only to express creativity, but to participate in the broader community as artists whose work is valued. It is more than a store. It is a platform.
A CAMPUS FOR COMMUNITY
This new campus will not only expand services — it will unify a community. Designed as a welcoming hub, it will bring together families, neighbors, partners, and the broader disability community across Central California. In Fresno, this campus stands as both promise and proof that the vision of a handful of parents in 1954 did not fade. It grew.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR ALL OF OUR STUDENTS
As students gazed out the lounge windows during their First Look, they were seeing more than a building. They were seeing possibility.It is knowing there will be space for everyone. It is having changing rooms that allow them to stay all day with comfort and dignity.
It is understanding that this place — in Fresno, in Central California — was built with them in mind. For our students and their families, this changes everything. And at 95% complete, the future is almost here.