Easter Seals has been helping individuals with disabilities and special needs, and their families, live better lives for nearly 90 years. From child development centers to physical rehabilitation and job training for people with disabilities. Easter Seals offers a variety of services to help people with disabilities address life's challenges and achieve person goals.
In 1907, Ohio businessman Edgar Allen lost his son in a streetcar accident. The lack of adequate medical service available to save his son prompted Allen to sell his business and begin a fund raising campaign to build a hospital in his hometown of Elyria, Ohio. Through this new hospital, Allen was surprised to learn that children with disabilities were often hidden from public view. Inspired by this discovery, in 1919, Allen founded what became known as the National Society for Crippled Children, the first organization of its kind.
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| Founding Fathers of Easter Seals |
The Birth of the Seal
In the spring of 1934, the organization launched its first Eater "seals" campaign to raise money for its services. To show their support, donors placed the seals on envelopes and letters. Cleveland Plain Dealer cartoonist J. H. Donahey designed the first seal. Donahey based the design on a concept of simplicity because those served by the charity asked "simply for the right to live a normal life."
The "lily", a symbol of spring, was officially incorporated as the Easter Seals' logo in 1953 for its association with resurrection and new life and has appeared on each seal since.
The overwhelming public support for the Easter "seals" campaign triggered a nationwide expansion of the organization and a well of grassroots efforts on behalf of people with disabilities. By 1967, the Easter "seal" was so well recognized, the organization formally adopted the name "Easter Seals".
Easter Seals offers help, hope and answers to more than a million children and adults living with autism and other disabilities or special needs and their families each year. Services and support are provided through a network of more than 550 sites in the U.S. and through Ability First Australia. Each center provides exceptional services that are individualized, innovative, family focused and tailored to meet specific needs of the particular community served.
Primary Easter Seals services include:
- Medical Rehabilitation
- Employment & Training
- Children's Services
- Adult & Senior Services
- Camping & Recreation
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| Vintage Easter Seals |
Easter Seals also advocated for the passage of legislation to help people with disabilities achieve independence, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Passed in 1990, the ADA prohibits discrimination against anyone who has a mental or physical disability, guaranteeing the civil rights of people with disabilities.
At the core of the Easter Seals organization is a common passion for caring, shared by its 23,000 staff members and thousands of volunteers, and by those who support its mission. The heart felt commitment to helping people with disabilities and their families is what Easter Seals is all about
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