by Dana McConnell, CDS Executive Director

Imagine you’re a proud parent awaiting the birth of your child.  The nursery room is ready, the clothes are neatly folded into piles by size, and children’s books are stacked beside the rocking chair. When the big day arrives, you head to the hospital with your overnight bag, and return home with a happy, healthy baby.

Unfortunately, life isn’t always like that.

Some infants need to spend more time in the hospital before going home.  Sometimes that home nursery will need space for a ventilator, feeding pump, or heart monitor.  Your baby is just as precious as you dreamed; he or she will just have more accessories than the traditional ball cap or hair bows.

As your child grows, some accessories will always be part of who they are, and some will be a memory viewed only in baby pictures.  Regardless, that child is still the beautiful, talented and gifted person they were meant to be.

The Center for Developmental Services is a special place where families can find multiple community services in one location for children and individuals with delays and disabilities. Our goal is to make the process of caring for children with special needs easier, simpler and more effective.

The Children’s Hospital of the Greenville Health System has four departments within CDS. Their Wonder Center is an on-site day care for medically complex children ages birth through six years.  Kidnetics evaluates and treats children from birth through age 21 for complex developmental disorders through physical, occupational, and speech therapy in our large gym, treatment rooms, and pool.  Developmental-Behavioral/Psychology Pediatrics provides evaluation and diagnosis of Autism, Down’s syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and other genetic disorders. Prosthetics and Orthotics offers our families specialty bracing and cranial remolding orthoses for the correction of plagiocephaly.

Clarity brings a unique combination of audiology and hearing treatment, speech and language evaluation and therapy, and psychological evaluation for developmental and school focused challenges, such as ADHD and learning disabilities.

Family Connection is the parent-to-parent organization which links families of children with special healthcare needs and disabilities to resources, support, and education.

Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs Board has a program called KidVentures that offers developmental assessments, service coordination, and early intervention.

And the Greenville County School District is also on-site to help evaluate and coordinate the best educational environment for your child.

All these services are centralized into one family-friendly location which serves 6,000 children each year.  That’s 6,000 children who are more prepared for school, more equipped with life skills, and whose families have been given the support and resources they need.

CDS still can’t guarantee that life will always go as planned, but our partnership can provide hope that more milestones will be achieved and more accessories can be stored away.

As we embark on a new year in 2016, many of us will make resolutions to improve the lives of ourselves and those around us.  I’d like to challenge readers to also improve the way we view disabilities by recommending these resolutions:

• I will teach my child about inclusion, because all children love to play.
• I will not look away if I notice someone has a disability, but rather smile and say hello.
• I will consider hiring someone with a disability, because there’s more to people than what we see.

These small changes will embrace our differences and enhance our community.  We invite you to visit our facility and take a tour.  If interested, please call our office at 864-331-1300.

by Dana McConnell, CDS Executive Director

It has been my privilege to serve the CDS staff, our partners and over 6,000 families this year. As I look back over the past eleven months, I am truly humbled by what we’ve accomplished together.

We began the year with a landscaping makeover, a beautiful mural, and the mural garden, thanks to the Greenville Garden Club and students from St. Joseph’s Catholic School. The ladies from the garden club also held a special fashion show luncheon featuring one of the children we serve. Shortly thereafter, SANDLAPPER Securities hosted a special night at the hockey game with many of our families participating in the pre-game festivities.

As summer approached, our momentum didn’t slow down. We revealed a new logo, updated our brochures, and launched a new website. In July, the community gave us a huge vote of confidence when we were awarded our first ever Best in the Upstate for Best Child Development Center. This momentum continued right into our 15th year anniversary with week-long activities and lots of celebration. We also approved a new three-year strategic plan which gave us a road map toward new goals and challenges.

In the financial arena, we received two significant funding grants: Greenville Women Giving and the JL Mann spirit week. Those two grants have re-defined what is possible at CDS, and allowed us to look toward the future needs for our families. In addition, we recorded a strong Eggs Benefit, our annual breakfast fundraiser, and enhanced our outreach program with Bon Secours St. Francis. The community’s passion toward funding our mission validates that what we do does make a difference.

No leader can stand without a supportive staff, and to that regard, I must give credit to the wonderful team at CDS. I cannot imagine our organization without their contributions, or the continual support of our partners, board members, and the community. I am truly grateful for the collaborative effort of all of us working together.

by Dana McConnell, CDS Executive Director

I had the privilege of attending the Greenville Chamber of Commerce ILV last week in Austin, Texas.  The ILV is an Intercommunity Leadership Visit where several leaders in our community visit another city to learn how they have addressed similar issues regarding growth, business development, and talent recruitment.

The Chamber has organized other ILV trips in the past to places such as Pittsburgh, PA and Ireland, and each trip has provided an in-depth insight into what makes their community unique.  Austin was selected this time because they are experiencing tremendous population growth, much like Greenville. They have had to work through the challenges that also come with growth, like infrastructure, mobility, and affordability.  We wanted to explore how Austin continues to be so successful, while at the same time keeping its authentic character.

During the 3-day visit, my personal goal was to learn more about obstacles surrounding families with disabilities.  How has innovation, entrepreneurship, and talent recruitment shaped the landscape for those seeking employment?  What modifications have been introduced to building designs?  What policies are being implemented to keep urban living affordable?

Those answers were found among the passionate leaders in Austin as well as within our innovative leaders back home.  For talent recruitment, the Upstate is already making strides with employment.  The Walgreens Distribution Center in Anderson, SC is a wonderful example of training our under-utilized disability workforce.  In addition, the Greenville CAN initiative has an employment workgroup with plans to hold seminars for local business leaders.   Regarding building design, Austin has taken a creative approach that incorporates millennial, wellness, eco-friendly, and disability needs into active work spaces.  They also require that all new housing projects designate 25% of their units as affordable for those on a limited budget, such as teachers.

Greenville is a collaborative community, and not all cities can say that.  We are truly fortunate to have community leaders, businesses, and residents willing to discuss issues openly and work together for resolution.  This collaboration is our key ingredient for successful growth.

Growth is inevitable in the Upstate.  We can either prepare for it, or react to it.  Let’s choose to be prepared and welcome it.

by Dana McConnell, CDS Executive Director

I feel truly blessed to have the best job in the world. I have the privilege of coming to work each day knowing that I make a difference in the lives of 6,000 children and families with developmental delays and disabilities.

It’s not actually me who makes that difference, I know, but I’m part of a wonderful team of staff and partners who help create miracles. At CDS, our partners help children hear for the first time as they listen to their mother’s voice. They teach children to swallow who had previously only been fed through a tube. They help children sit up, stand, or walk, when their families were told it would never be possible.

These milestones happen every day among our families. I’m proud to share that CDS has some milestones of our own as well. We have re-designed our landscaping and added a beautiful mural to the building. We revealed a new logo, updated our brochures, and launched a new website. The momentum continued right into our 15th year anniversary with week-long activities and lots of celebration. We also approved a new three-year strategic plan which gave us a road map toward new goals and challenges.

Although these achievements pale in comparison to the milestones our children reach, they help to create that “special place” our families need when they enter a world they were not expecting. New parents may be told their unborn child has a rare genetic disorder. A family of twins is beginning to see developmental delays in one of their two children. A student who had always seemed to struggle in the classroom is finally diagnosed with dyslexia.

These are the stories I hear time and again when I talk with our families. They are my inspiration for doing what I do. This blog will be a glimpse of those stories that motivate us, new programs or services we offer, updates on donor engagement or volunteer opportunities, and other informative posts to keep you updated. The Upstate is fortunate to have a place like CDS, and I am grateful to be part of this amazing organization.

The future of CDS and our families is so inspiring! I hope you join us on our journey.