• Encouraging relationships with families, friends, neighbors, and merchants, through everyday involvement in the neighborhoods and communities in which one lives.
• Ensuring personal well being by supporting individuals to make appropriate financial decisions and healthy practices part of their daily routine.

Our goal is to be the most sought after community-based program for the developmentally and intellectually challenged in the state of Georgia by fulfilling everyday dreams, learning necessary functional, vocational, academic, community, and daily living skills, and having a positive place in the world-are the goals of SPACS. In order to achieve the ultimate goal, there several areas of improvement that are intended to be addressed in the coming years. Those things include, but aren’t limited to:

•  Strengthening our community relationships
•  Broadening our community connections
•  Increasing our participant numbers by 60%
• Create new and fully functioning work programs for our participants
• Deepen our social media scope to bring awareness to our center
• Improve the vitalization and beauty of our building
• Update our adaptive equipment, programs, and processes.

Teresa Punzi and her talented team collectively have over 50 years of experience in the human services and education industry. The board of directors works diligently with Teresa to establish and fortify relationships in the community for our continued fundraising efforts.

As the Executive Director of The Smart Place, a non-profit service organization that is governed by DBHDD (Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities), Teresa has been the visionary for The Smart Places’ services for intellectually and physically challenged individuals for over 17 years. When realizing the dilemma that the special needs population was greatly underserved and underappreciated, Teresa decided to create a safe haven where these individuals could flourish by changing the way this population could receive their post education services. Because special needs individuals are one of the largest populations that is victimized, ignored, neglected and bullied, The Smart Place strives to break those barriers by providing multiple opportunities that help build self-esteem as well as job and social skills to assist in a more inclusive way of life. Some opportunities include the curriculum-based activities, sports training and job readiness training. At the center, the individuals are be able to actively determine what their day consists of and what they wish to engage in.  She is proudly responsible for a center that continuously promotes a sense of acceptance and reassurance, the atmosphere offers opportunities for growth, self-determination and happiness.

The Smart Place fully engages in the community, not only providing jobs for special people that serve special people, but by creating opportunities for volunteer efforts for the participants to give back to people even less fortunate than themselves and expose themselves to the other possibilities for growth.

As an entrepreneur, in the beginning it is natural to mirror your mentors and competition, but once you become successful, it is important to continuously challenge yourself. This mindset of be willing to stretch out of your comfort zone and surround yourself with other people who will make you raise your own expectations of yourself are the type of thoughts and actions Teresa continues to share with her staff and mentees. Professionally, her motivation comes from the sharing in the lives of the individuals the company serves. Although, she can stand strong on the strength of their service, Ms. Punzi is always challenging her staff and herself to do more.  They deal with very fragile individuals every day, and since she doesn’t know what they experience when they are not at The Smart Place, she is always motivated to give them the best experiences they can when the participants walk through the doors of The Smart Place! The company collaborates with various community organizations such as DBHDD, Dept of Community Health, Delmarva, The Dekalb Board of Commissioners, local Police and Fire Departments, Special Olympics of GA, Teen Works, NAACP, Dekalb Chamber of Commerce, Kashi and The Wade Walker YMCA.  Just recently, The Smart Place has been given a huge opportunity to expand their services. The day support services piece of her business has recently acquired a former DeKalb county school and is ready to be opening its doors in June of 2019! The Smart Place is currently accredited by CQL and is looking forward to becoming a Certified Autism Center in 2020.

One of Teresa’s favorite Quotes or Words of Wisdom come from Haim G. Ginott and she uses it in her trainings frequently with slight adjustments, she often says this quote can be used in any given circumstance. She believes that once a person understands how powerful their actions can be, hopefully they can govern themselves accordingly, both personally and professionally.

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.”

― Haim G. Ginott

Reginald Johnson was born and raised in the County Line Community, in Atlanta, Georgia.  In 1980, Reginald graduated with his Bachelor of Arts Degree, in Education and Recreation from the University of Tennessee, and is a Licensed Paraprofessional. Internationally respected as a professional athlete and basketball player, in 1980 Reginald Johnson was the First Round Draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs.  He went on to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the 1983 Champions Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers, as well as internationally. 

After retirement, he became an advocate, an educator, a speaker and a coach within his community.  His celebrity status would garner him many speaking invitations to schools, youth programs and partnerships with professional organizations throughout the southeast.  He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the R Johnson Community Services, Incorporation (RJCS). 

In 1997 Reginald and Ronald Johnson were instrumental in starting up the County Line/Ellenwood Community Round-up and Parade in South DeKalb County, formerly known as The Second Chance Community Services, Inc., of which Rev. Oscar C. White Jr. was Founder, 1994.  He is a masterful teacher, humanitarian, entrepreneur and community leader.  Reginald teaches self-reliance and soaring self-esteem, while being committed to promoting solid performance in education.  He encourages participation in AAU Youth Basketball Leagues, Upward Youth Basketball Camps, Mentoring Programs and many other special activities, all of which demonstrate values of diligence in all of his endeavors; which embodies the foundation of the R Johnson Community Services, Inc.