◦ love ◦ organizing ◦ 1968 ◦ fundraising ◦ education ◦ dignity ◦ emission ◦ independence
How it all Started
Richmond T. Harris’s Letter to the Editor Launched a Grassroots movement. It was time to stop agonizing and start organizing.
There were no programs [in Utah] which taught any work skills to the adult retarded person. All ages were attending schools set up for small children. The need was for a workshop/work activity center for those over 16 years old. “By their first meeting dad had 50 names. When they finished telling their stories, they cried, they laughed, and they hugged each other on the relief of finding others. They organized into the Salt Lake County Association for Retarded Citizens.”
A Board of Directors was formed from this group, adding representatives from the community who knew fundraising, public relations, and organizing volunteers… We opened our doors June 6, 1968.
There were no programs [in Utah] which taught any work skills to the adult retarded person. All ages were attending schools set up for small children. The need was for a workshop/work activity center for those over 16 years old. “By their first meeting dad had 50 names. When they finished telling their stories, they cried, they laughed, and they hugged each other on the relief of finding others. They organized into the Salt Lake County Association for Retarded Citizens.”
A Board of Directors was formed from this group, adding representatives from the community who knew fundraising, public relations, and organizing volunteers… We opened our doors June 6, 1968.
1968
Original School
Original School
We opened our doors June 6, 1968. There were three teachers and eight students.
Our Founders
From left to right, Dr. Geraldine McCarthy Clark, Fran Peek, Donna Addams, Terrell Harris Dougan, and Arlene Dial. Dr. Clark, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Dial.
1968
Ron Adams
Ron Adams
Ron Adams was one of eight students who walked through the door of the Columbus Elementary School on June 6, 1968. He was 20 years old.
1967
Dr. Geraldine Clark
Dr. Geraldine Clark
helped start programs in Utah that were models for efforts that later become national in scope, including the ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens).
1975
President Ford Visits
The Columbus Community Center
President Ford Visits
The Columbus Community Center
In 1975, Columbus was recognized by the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation, as “one of the country’s leading rehabilitation and vocational training centers” for people with disabilities.
1975
Columbus Classroom
Columbus Classroom
In 1975, for the first time in history, a public school experience was available to students with
disabilities ages 16-22.
disabilities ages 16-22.
Fran and Kim Peek
Kim Peek, the savant who was an inspiration for the Academy Award-winning motion picture “Rain Man.”
2023
Columbus
Community Center
Columbus
Community Center
2023
THE HUB OF OPPORTUNITY
THE HUB OF OPPORTUNITY
A community-based, mixed-use development that brings together a unique combination of community services, workforce development opportunities, and community living for individuals with disabilities.
TIMELINE
• Parents launched grassroots efforts that gained momentum to give their children community-based options.
• Columbus opened in 1968 with 8 students and 3 teachers.
• Parents lease the school from Salt Lake City School District for $1.00 a year.
• Utah’s House Bill 105, passed in 1969, was one of the first state laws to pave the way to changes in public education both locally and nationally.
• Access to public education gave families options for community-based educational programs.
• In 1974, Columbus was recognized as “one of the country’s leading rehabilitation and training centers” in the United States by the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation.
• In 1975, Federal Public Law 94-142 guaranteed a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability. This law had a dramatic, positive impact on millions of children with disabilities across the country.
• Columbus expanded its services to provide educational and vocational options for Special Education students attending Salt Lake City School District high schools.
• In July 1978, Parker Hannifin was Columbus’s first business partner, a relationship that has lasted 40 years.
• By 1978, Columbus had 200 participants participating in educational and vocational programs.
• Both locally and nationally, there were efforts to create community-based programs that provided employment and residential living.
• In 1981, The Salt Lake Association for Retarded Citizens worked with Columbus and the Housing Authority of Salt Lake County to open Jones Court Group Home, the first in Salt Lake County. Eight residents were welcomed by their neighbors in the Murray neighborhood.
• In 1985, Columbus participant Mike Magleby is the first person in Utah to be placed in the state’s inaugural Supported Employment program. He still works today in the community.
• In 1985, the International Special Olympic Games were held in Park City, Utah. Steve Bolton won a gold medal in the Giant Slalom event.
• Families and individuals with disabilities were finding more ways to achieve personal goals and aspirations.
• Columbus and other nonprofits expanded community-based supported employment and residential models to increase opportunities for independence.
• Partnerships with the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation and Salt Lake County helped expand employment programs.
• A record 151 individuals with disabilities completed vocational training at Columbus and become competitively employed in community jobs. Earnings were $619,860.
• Columbus operated 3 residential group homes that gave those with the most severe disabilities independence to live in local neighborhoods.
• In 1999, Columbus broke ground on a new, centralized campus at 3495 South West Temple.
• Columbus opens its main campus in 2000, a Day Activity building in 2002, and Columbus Production Services in 2006.
• Strategic emphasis on business development and partners to strengthen all programs.
• Columbus Secure Shredding is started and recognized nationally as a “social enterprise” business model.
• 2007 marks Columbus’s 40th anniversary with a major celebration featuring Governor Jon Huntsman as keynote speaker.
• After a humble beginning in the old Columbus Elementary School at 2500 South 500 East, Columbus began major capital expansions that would ensure our mission and the individuals we served were integral parts of the community. With new buildings that serve several purposes, Columbus has been able to provide more options for individuals with disabilities. Columbus’s buildings reflect a commitment to be an integral part of Salt Lake County’s growing, vibrant urban community.
• Parents launched grassroots efforts that gained momentum to give their children community-based options.
• Columbus opened in 1968 with 8 students and 3 teachers.
• Parents lease the school from Salt Lake City School District for $1.00 a year.
• Utah’s House Bill 105, passed in 1969, was one of the first state laws to pave the way to changes in public education both locally and nationally.
• Access to public education gave families options for community-based educational programs.
• In 1974, Columbus was recognized as “one of the country’s leading rehabilitation and training centers” in the United States by the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation.
• In 1975, Federal Public Law 94-142 guaranteed a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability. This law had a dramatic, positive impact on millions of children with disabilities across the country.
• Columbus expanded its services to provide educational and vocational options for Special Education students attending Salt Lake City School District high schools.
• In July 1978, Parker Hannifin was Columbus’s first business partner, a relationship that has lasted 40 years.
• By 1978, Columbus had 200 participants participating in educational and vocational programs.
• Both locally and nationally, there were efforts to create community-based programs that provided employment and residential living.
• In 1981, The Salt Lake Association for Retarded Citizens worked with Columbus and the Housing Authority of Salt Lake County to open Jones Court Group Home, the first in Salt Lake County. Eight residents were welcomed by their neighbors in the Murray neighborhood.
• In 1985, Columbus participant Mike Magleby is the first person in Utah to be placed in the state’s inaugural Supported Employment program. He still works today in the community.
• In 1985, the International Special Olympic Games were held in Park City, Utah. Steve Bolton won a gold medal in the Giant Slalom event.
• Families and individuals with disabilities were finding more ways to achieve personal goals and aspirations.
• Columbus and other nonprofits expanded community-based supported employment and residential models to increase opportunities for independence.
• Partnerships with the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation and Salt Lake County helped expand employment programs.
• A record 151 individuals with disabilities completed vocational training at Columbus and become competitively employed in community jobs. Earnings were $619,860.
• Columbus operated 3 residential group homes that gave those with the most severe disabilities independence to live in local neighborhoods.
• In 1999, Columbus broke ground on a new, centralized campus at 3495 South West Temple.
• Columbus opens its main campus in 2000, a Day Activity building in 2002, and Columbus Production Services in 2006.
• Strategic emphasis on business development and partners to strengthen all programs.
• Columbus Secure Shredding is started and recognized nationally as a “social enterprise” business model.
• 2007 marks Columbus’s 40th anniversary with a major celebration featuring Governor Jon Huntsman as keynote speaker.
• After a humble beginning in the old Columbus Elementary School at 2500 South 500 East, Columbus began major capital expansions that would ensure our mission and the individuals we served were integral parts of the community. With new buildings that serve several purposes, Columbus has been able to provide more options for individuals with disabilities. Columbus’s buildings reflect a commitment to be an integral part of Salt Lake County’s growing, vibrant urban community.
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