Our History…
In 1954, Lucy Idol was teaching Kindergarten at Vermilion Elementary School when Bobby, a five-year old child with Down’s syndrome, was turned away. Lucy was told the school was not equipped to meet his needs.
For Bobby to go without support was unacceptable to Lucy. She began working with Bobby a few hours a week in the basement of a church.
Word got out that Lucy was working with Bobby, and by 1955, Lucy was working with eight children five days a week. Lucy enrolled in a special education program at Kent State University to better learn how to help these children.
In 1969, Lucy was unexpectedly granted the deed to the land on which the center is now located in Vermilion with extreme generosity from Richard Konik.
Over the years, Lucy was delighted to have her family join her in her endeavors to serve others, including her daughters Carol, Joyce, Martha, her grand-children Tad and Tara, and her great-grand daughter Taylor.
The center has continued to be a beneficiary of great generosity and has blossomed into the organization that it is today.
There are currently two, soon to be three, campus locations. In 2019, Tad saw a need to increase access to services for clients within the community. The Next Direction Program was created in 2018 to help fill those needs, but has unfortunately been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November of 2020, the Lucy Idol Center purchased an old bank in South Amherst that now provides services to approximately 25 clients. The third location in South Lorain is expected to open in late 2022.