A significant milestone has been met as a DeWitt County non-profit moves forward to comply with state standards.

Encore Developmental Services has for two years now been working to meet the code of the State Fire Marshal's office after a surprise visit found the non-profit woefully short of the State's mandates. Executive Director Stephanie Coonce says they have recently made positive progress to that end.

Coonce reminds a yearly inspection with the Fire Marshal's office a couple of years ago brought up several issues with the safety of their building on Clinton's east side. It was a new inspector after many years with the same individual and in that time, the agency has had a lot of back and forth with the State over its plans.

Now Encore is trying to assess its next step and determine a cost for the approved improvements and set out to fundraise to reach that figure.

Through all the stress and chaos of trying to plan for these updates, Coonce and her staff have kept the doors of Encore open to serve the most vulnerable in our community. They've also dealt with some adversity through it all as well. This past winter, they had a water pipe burst in the facility that caused quite a bit of damage.