Edwards Center Inc. (founded 1972 in Oregon by author Dr. Jean Edwards), is a private, nonprofit organization serving adult Oregonians with developmental disabilities with 18 locations in both Washington County and Clackamas Counties.
Edwards Center's mission is to enhance the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities by helping them reach their highest potential through training, education, employment, housing and social opportunities in safe, healthy and stimulating environments. Edwards Center makes a lifelong pledge to each of their clients' families: to provide a lifetime continuum of care for their loved ones, even after they themselves are gone.
Prior to the 1970s, when few services existed for people with developmental disabilities, parents of children with disabilities faced a choice between the challenge of caring for their children at home without the support of public education or putting their children into institutions.
1972 - Jean Edwards, a University of Oregon graduate with a passion for special education founds the Edwards Center and makes a promise to six families that the fledgling center would take care of their children once the parents were gone.
1975 - Oregon passes legislation allowing developmentally disabled children access to public schooling—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Dr. Jean Edwards opens the first group home in Washington County housing disabled adults in the community.
2012 - Edwards Center provides resources, homes, jobs, and recreational opportunities for over 300 Oregonians with disabilities.
2013 - According to the Oregon Department of Human Services' Seniors and People With Disabilities, the number of people with developmental disabilities receiving in-home services has climbed from just under 2,000 to 9,000 between 2001 and 2010. Jessica Leitner, (executive director of Edwards Center Inc. since 2008), begins a building project at the Edwards Community Center in Beaverton, Oregon - a pocket neighborhood of ten homes which offers a unique care model for families. The facility provides families a community, allowing parents to age in place with their children – then takes over permanent care of the children, with caregivers available on an as-needed basis, costing a fraction of what it takes to hire an in-home care provider.
2014 - The “Tree of Life” campaign begins for the Edwards Center and includes the Tree of Life benefit concert series, held twice a year at the Edwards Aloha Community Center, as well as recordings and music videos which document stories of adults surmounting the challenges of Developmental Disabilities. Performers at the live concert series and recordings feature internationally acclaimed Oregon musicians and artists and include Esperanza Spalding, Gino Vannelli, Tom Grant, Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen, Janet Chvatal and Marc Gremm. The series is sponsored by the Fournier Insurance Group.
2015 - Two homes are completed at the Community Center in Beaverton. Edwards Center Inc. establishes a partnership with Meals on Wheels and Washington County Disabled, Aging and Veteran's Services to serve lunches to seniors and veterans providing new community connections for several groups that might otherwise become isolated.