Angela Courtney said she views her businesses as a ministry, a ministry that fills a need in Vicksburg.

And Tuesday the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony for Courtney’s EDUCARE, located at 3202 Wisconsin Ave. Courtney’s two businesses, which both operate out of the office on Wisconsin Avenue, cater to the needs of the elderly and disabled. EDUCARE Senior Day Center provides care during the day for seniors or those with disabilities, while EDUCARE Personal Care Services provides nonmedical home care.

“The purpose of both companies is to show compassion to those in need,” Courtney said. “What we try to do is make like the facility is a home. That’s why the building is decorated like a home.”

EDUCARE’s Senior Day Center is one of the few — and possibly the only — in Vicksburg that provides a place for seniors or adults with disabilities to go from morning to evening, and seeing the need is why she said she decided to expand her business from Jackson.

“One thing I love about Vicksburg is the hospitality,” Courtney, who used to work for the Army Corps of Engineers here, said. “It’s just the love that the people have here, and then I did a little research and found out that you all don’t have a senior day care center.”

The Day Center’s staff of five, including a registered nurse, provides sewing classes, cooking classes, computer classes, exercise opportunities, movies on Fridays and arts and crafts each week, Keisha McWilliams, EDUCARE’s head certified nursing assistant, said while giving a tour of the facility prior to the ribbon cutting.

“They have their own idea of how they want to pain and create,” McWilliams said. “Today it’s all about technology, so we provide that too. We try to make everyone feel like they’re in the family. It’s so much fun.”

Breakfast and lunch is served each day, she added.

Courtney said neither the day care nor the personal care service has reached capacity, and EDUCARE accepts Medicaid waivers and private payment.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said EDUCARE shows what the Vicksburg community is about.

“The best way to measure the growth and development of a city is to look at how they educate our children and how they assist seniors and those with disabilities,” he said. “This is what a community is all about.”

This is what a city is all about.”