HISTORY OF NEVINS
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Nevins was founded in 1959 by a group of parents as “a school for vocational and recreational training, including a sheltered workshop” the first direct service training center in North and South Carolina. Public policy at the time held that all that can be done is to “preserve” the lives of people with mental retardation and relieve the families of some of the “burden” of having a son or daughter with mental retardation. Nevins fought this trend to institutionalize by offering vocational training and informal job counseling. The old Nevin School, rebuilt after a fire in 1922 was leased. Enrollment in the “Nevins Vocational Training Center” consisted of three students, a manager and one instructor.
Five years later, referrals came from public school system and United Cerebral Palsy and by 1964 enrollment had reached 41 individuals. The board of directors began looking into the need for “halfway houses”. A forerunner of the group homes of today. Nevins also received a sheltered workshop license from the U.S. Department of Labor. Services at this time included classroom education, vocational training and sheltered workshop employment which formed the core of Nevins for many years to come.
GROWTH AND EXPANSION
The Nevins building and 3 and a half acres of land was purchased with a $5000.00 loan from the ARC in 1966, at this time there was also the addition of the Baucom Building. CPCC began assisting with the education at the Nevins Center. Today all education is contracted with CPCC, which has a total of three instructors stationed at the Nevins Center. By 1968 enrollment climbed to 104 individuals when the first funding became available from Area Mental Health. In the early 1970’s the cafeteria opened, Nevins purchased an additional 37 acres of adjoining property and planning for the first group home began. Public policy stressed providing a place of refuge, where the clients could be busy, happy and protected from all possible harm. The emphasis at this time was on recreation not employment. Nevins developed group homes and workshops tucked away on a fourth acre campus in Derita. Nevins became completely self-reliant with government funds and earned income. In 1979, the Corkey Building (10,000 sq. ft.) opened and three years later enrollment passed 200.
MATURITY AND STABILIZATION
Since 1985 there has been a major change in public policy. Today the goal is to help people with mental retardation work to their capacity and enjoy the pleasures of being an adult. The emphasis is upon the dignity and empowerment that comes from earning one’s own wage, making choices, having an identity as a worker who performs a meaningful job reliably and contributing to one’s family and community. Physical expansion included opening the Lakeview branch in 1986, purchasing the Norman property in 1987 and the fourth group home in 1991. Today Nevins continues to be at the forefront of its field.