By Emily Enfinger | The Selma Times-Journal

The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS), housing the Vocational Rehabilitation (VRS) and Children’s Rehabilitation (CRS) programs, moved to a bigger location in early December.

The new office for ADRS is located at 720 Alabama Ave. and at 12,644 square-feet it is nearly three times larger than it’s former office.

“We were in a very small space and very limited on what we could offer people,” said Barbra Hankins, district supervisor for ADRS. “It was time for us to grow and expand.”

Melvina Moss, office coordinator for the CRS office in Selma, said they needed a place sufficient in size to accommodate their current needs as well as to be able to expand on their services in the future.

CRS occupies 65 percent of the new office space and features a parent resource area, audiology booth, a modern exam and interview room as well as a nutrition and feeding clinic area with an observation room.

Other new features include built-in benches in the bathrooms to better accommodate families with young adults with disabilities.

“We have young people that are almost 21 years of age that are so compromised that have to be changed and pulled out of a wheelchair,” said Hankins, “Now we have the space to accommodate that.”