Marie Mong: Inspired by and an inspiration to children with developmental disabilities

Marie Mong at Abilities United 40th anniversary celebration.

Any look back at the first fifty years of what is now Abilities United starts with Marie Mong, who helped get the agency established back in 1963. Marie is now 95 years old and has a lifelong spirit and attitude that inspires us all, "Children with disabilities can learn just like any children, we’d just need to take it a bit slower.”

Mary knew from a young age that she wanted to work with the disabled. “When I grew up in the twenties and thirties, there was a boy in our neighborhood with Down Syndrome. He got nothing; the family just kept him isolated in the home. I think I knew then that I wanted to work with people with disabilities and find a way to help.”

Around 1960, Marie was working at the Children's Health Council (CHC) where she worked with several mothers who had children with disabilities. These mothers wanted their children to have access to educational resources to help them live to their potential. They began meeting at First Baptist Church in Palo Alto to plan a community resource for children with developmental disabilities, and opened a nursery. Dr. Robert Taylor, a noted pediatrician from CHC, recruited Marie to run the preschool. With a bit of funding, Abilities United was incorporated in 1963 (as C.A.R), and moved to the grounds of the current Palo Alto facility.

“I ran the nursery school from the start,” says Marie. “At that time there was no training for educating the disabled, as the doctors just said to put them in an institution. We had to figure it out on our own. I thought that these children could learn just like any children, we’d just need to take it a bit slower.” This philosophy that Marie developed still represents a best practice today.

The pool was added in the 1960s, and the Aquatic Center instantly became a key part of the facility. “The pool was a godsend,” says Mary. “Swimming was great exercise for the children, and those who couldn’t walk on land could enjoy moving around in water. I remember one of our children was deaf, blind, and had developmental issues, but in the water he would just blossom – he was a beautiful swimmer.“

Looking back, Marie says that it’s remarkable how services for the disabled have been completely transformed during her lifetime. “Now disabilities get effectively identified at birth; that sure wasn’t the case fifty years ago. Back then, nobody knew anything about autism, and people with disabilities weren’t even given a chance. Now they’re participating and contributing in schools and in the community. “

Locally, people like Marie, and so many others at Abilities United, have helped drive this transformation and inspiration.

Based on an interview with Marie Mong in 2012. Written by Bob Thomas. Edited by Marie Mong and Wendy Kuehnl.

Dr. Harry Hartzell remembers 50 years of Abilities United & services for people with disabilities

Dr. Harry Hartzell with Lynda Steele, Abilities United Executive Director

Fifty years ago Dr. Harry Hartzell, a pediatrician at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic, learned that his newborn child had severe disabilities. Subsequently, he and his wife discovered that a group of parents had started a program at a local church for young children with developmental disabilities. They enrolled their son Ben and found the program, under the direction of Marie Mong, to be very helpful in giving them guidance in caring for Ben. It also put them in contact with helpful community resources and with other parents facing similar questions and challenges. Thanks to the foresight, planning, and fund raising begun by these parents, who wanted services for their children to be available in the community, this program grew into Abilities United.

It is sobering to remember the thinking that was prevalent in that era. “At that time, the advice that many professionals gave parents was to institutionalize the child before getting emotionally attached,” remembers Dr. Hartzell. “I visited the hospital in Sonoma where Ben would have been placed. It was a shocking experience, and we certainly weren't going to send our son there. Fortunately, it was the early '60s, and under the leadership of President Kennedy, parents were having the courage to speak up, taking the position that these are our children, and the right thing to do was to show that we love them by helping them become part of our community.”

Thus began Dr. Hartzell's association with the agency. In time he would become increasingly active, serving on the Abilities United Board of Directors after retirement from his pediatrics practice, and he continues to advise on fund-raising efforts to this day.

“I’m proud of so many of our programs,” Dr. Hartzell says. “Our Employment Services Program helps our clients get jobs—in food service at Stanford, as a greeter at Walmart - all kinds of things. Our participants take enormous pride in their work, and that furthers the goal of inclusion in the community. I’m also very proud of our programs for the parents. As my wife and I learned, raising a special needs child brings some enormous challenges, so providing counseling and enabling parents to meet with others who have been in their shoes is a huge help.”

A conversation with the remarkable Dr. Hartzell reminds us of the incredible changes over the past 50 years. What is now Abilities United has grown from a small but determined group of parents meeting in a church social hall, to a vibrant organization with a wide range of services and a track record of making a significant difference in the lives of special children and their families. What was once the standard practice of institutionalizing a child has given way to effective efforts at education and inclusion. Here in the Bay Area, Abilities United is playing a key role in those efforts, helping our community continually improve its commitment to our developmentally disabled citizens.

Based on a 2012 interview with Dr. Harry Hartzell.  Written by Bob Thomas. Edited by Harry Hartzell and Wendy Kuehnl.

Abilities United Year-long Campaign to Celebrate 50 Years of Inclusion and Contribution in the Local Community

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Today, AbilitiesUnited begins the celebration of its 50^th Anniversary concurrent with the International Day of People with Disabilities, a United Nations sanctioned day that aims to promote an understanding of people with disability and encourage support for their dignity, rights and well-being. 

Abilities Unitedbegan in 1963 as a small nursery school founded by twelve Palo Alto families for their children with developmental disabilities.  Since then, the agency has continued to be a critical lifeline for families throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.  For years, they have served thousands of children and adults, helping them with their personal development and integrating them into the community.

Lynda Steele, Abilities United’s Executive Director, provides this perspective. “At one point, institutionalization was the only option for children with disabilities. But over the past 50 years, we have developed a wide range of comprehensive life-long services through education, training, and supports that enable those with disabilities to be a part of the community. In creative and positive ways, we have worked hard to eliminate the barriers that prevent individuals from attaining the best life possible.”

The agency will be telling its story of inclusion in a number of events, shows, and webinars with community partners through the year. The campaign’s inaugural event will be an art exhibit hosted at the Microsoft retail store at the Stanford Shopping Center from Monday, December 3 through Friday, December 7. Original works of art from local artists who are participants of the agency will be on exhibit and available for purchase.

According to Michael Solari, Microsoft Community Development Specialist: "At Microsoft, we strive to help people around the world realize their full potential. By hosting an art exhibit with Abilities United, we are able to jointly celebrate the artistic accomplishments of their participants. And since technology has greatly improved the inclusion and contribution of all in our community, the Microsoft team will be hosting a variety of technology classes throughout the week for children and adults of all abilities."  

Beginning December 3, Abilities United will also launch their “50 Successes/50 Stories” campaign, publishing compelling personal stories to illustrate the accomplishments of people of all abilities over the past 50 years.  Each week, a new story will be distributed through social media as well as posted on the agency web site.  In addition, the agency is asking people throughout the community to join the conversation and submit their stories online. Bob Thomas of Mountain View, who first volunteered for the agency in 1978 when he was 18 years old, collected the 50 individual stories in support of the 50^th Anniversary campaign.

Looking to the future, Abilities United will continue their commitment to people with disabilities.  They look forward to the time when all barriers –both attitudinal and physical--for people with disabilities will truly come down.  

According to Dr. Heidi Feldman, Abilities United Board President, “We are driven to continue our leadership role in full community inclusion and universal contribution – a mission not yet completed – while expanding our capability to serve more children, adults, families, and community partners.  We seek to influence a wider community in our state and nation through training, research, and dissemination of inclusionary services that work. Please join us in this mission.”

Submitted by  Wendy Kuehnl, Abilities United Marketing Director