A celebration to remember (09/15/2008)

Never underestimate the power of the individual.

Fifty years ago, the parents of three children - the Coldrens, the Greens, and the Gillespies - refused to accept the status quo. As one speaker put it Saturday night, they refused to accept "no" as answer for their children and their children's future.

With the help of the First Presbyterian Church of Portland and the leadership of Mary Easterday Young, the organization now known as Jay-Randolph Developmental Services was born.

On Saturday, JRDS celebrated its first 50 years. Its accomplishments have been numerous and extraordinary. Lives have been changed. Families have found hope and support. Futures have been brightened.

If you're looking for a measure of its importance, just think back 51 years or any other time in the histories of Jay and Randolph counties prior to 1958.

The community developmentally disabled children and adults served by JRDS didn't suddenly spring into being 50 years ago.

The developmentally disabled have been part of the human community since time immemorial, but instead of being served - instead of being embraced - they were marginalized. They were shut out. They were warehoused. Their families were stigmatized, treated as if they should be ashamed of those they loved.

That's the way it was for centuries. That's still the way it is in most developing countries.

But 50 years ago, a brave group of individuals, bound together by a love for their children, said it doesn't have to be that way. The way it's always been wasn't good enough.

On Saturday, there was great cause for celebration for JRDS and its clients, staff, and families.

But there's also reason to celebrate its example to all of us, as a reminder that - no matter how daunting the challenge and no matter how tough the odds - individuals matter and great things can be accomplished when we work together. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]