A beautiful path - The Meyer Center celebrates 70 years of service and looks to the future
When Francie and Hall Todd had their twin boys, Hall and Barrett, in 2020, they set out on what has become “a different path, beautiful path,” according to Francie Todd.
Little Hall received a birth diagnosis of Down Syndrome. The family has been in perpetual motion since, with medical appointments, therapies and the everyday busyness of working parents and preschool twins. But among it all, they have found the support and community of the Meyer Center, a special place that for 70 years has offered early education and intensive therapies for children with disabilities. It was founded by physician Leslie Meyer.
“We were founded in 1954, in a time when children with disabilities were not included in the public education,” Meta Bowers Hendricks, the center’s executive director, said. “In fact, it was 20 years before they were ever included into the public school system. Dr. Meyer really was a visionary in that time when he founded this concept and this idea of having a school that would provide both the education and the therapies that children with disabilities would need to reach their potential.”
The center recently unveiled a timeline of its seven decades, celebrating the families it serves and those who continue to support and grow its mission so more children have the same opportunities.
“We serve kids who are birth through second grade, so roughly 8 years old,” Hendricks said. “They come from any and all backgrounds, because really no one plans to have a child with a disability, so anybody in our community could need our services. Here at school, we serve all children with all disabilities. We have 105 very unique children and not one child here is the same at all.”
The Meyer Center is a licensed daycare facility, so for children under 3 years old, tuition is on a sliding scale, but no child is turned away because of inability to pay. Older children who meet federal criteria for special education attend as part of a public charter school, with no charge to families. The center’s unique model combines early childhood education, school-based therapies, and nursing services.
“When you drop off or send your child here on the bus, you know that your child is going to receive all of those preschool educational components, but also the therapies that they need – occupational, physical and speech therapy, and we also offer music therapy,” Hendricks said. “By having all those services done during the school day, under one roof, then at the end when school is over and you're picking up the child with a disability or your other children, the benefit is to the entire family. You're not spending those after-school hours going from one specialist or one therapy appointment to another. You can actually have quality of life for the entire family.”
The Todds said the opportunities have made all the difference for their family.
“If we were to manage a schedule with therapies, doctor's visits, basically one of us would not be able to work,” Hall Todd said. “For Little Hall specifically, now he has the eight therapies at the Meyer Center during the week and then outside of school, he has two or three other therapy-based activities.”
Beyond the resources for Little Hall, Francie Todd, who co-founded KIND of the Upstate (Kids Including and Nurturing Disabilities), said the Meyer Center’s staff and other parents share wisdom, support and practical tips that make life easier and better.
“That's a whole other side to the Meyer Center that is so powerful: the amount of parents who come together and share resources in town,” she said. “And the therapists are so well versed in other activities. They were the ones that suggested originally that Hall do swimming. They thought he would love water and that his voice would just come alive when he goes to aquatic therapy, and they were so right. It's been tremendous for him.”
The need for services from the Meyer Center continues to greatly outpace the availability. The waiting list is long – ranging from 50 – 80 children each year – and when it comes to early intervention services, there is no time to wait. As the center enters its next 70 years, there are plans to expand numbers and services, but as Hendricks said, there is a need for “time, talent and treasure. It takes all of those.”
That investment means everything to children who receive services and to their families as they navigate a different world than they ever expected.
“Going through this, it can be very isolating at times, just because it is a different path,” Francie Todd said. “It's a beautiful path, but it's very different. And I think having other families that know that without even having to explain it, it's just a very powerful resource.”
You can help! The Meyer Center is relaunching its 1954 Club, a monthly giving program of $19.54 per month. Larger gifts are always welcome. Volunteers are needed for summer camps, special activities and events. Have a talent or skill that might be of use? Let the center’s leadership find a spot where you can serve. Learn more and get involved at meyercenter.org.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: A beautiful path - The Meyer Center celebrates 70 years of service and looks to the future
