Eric and Elinor Burns have long been trailblazers in service for people with disabilities. |
When it comes to providing services for those with disabilities, Elinor Burns has found herself as a trailblazer more than once.
"I
was one of the original parents who met in a church basement in Palo
Alto to plan the creation of what was to become Abilities United,” says
Elinor, whose son Eric was born in 1951 with Down Syndrome. “There were
no service options back then; there was nothing at all for Eric.”
Building
on the efforts of Elinor and other families, what is now Abilities United was formed in 1963. In the 1980s, Elinor served on the staff as
Director of the Home Companion Program. “The parents knew the value of
respite,” says Elinor. “They welcomed the opportunity for their child to
have a relationship with someone other than a family member. It was
also an important outlet for the parents themselves, to spend time with
their other children and with their family in general.”
A
wonderful highlight of Eric’s life was his time working at Stanford
University. “He got the job through Abilities United Employment Services,” says Elinor. “They trained him and he was hired at Stanford
where he worked in the dining room at one of the dorms. He made
wonderful friends and for a decade he enjoyed working there. Each
paycheck was a day of celebration; he was so proud to save his own money
and to use his savings for a camp he attended each year.”
Eric
has had a full life as an artist and a gold-medal winner in Special
Olympics, and enjoys camping, bowling, and other sports. All of these
are things he does with his friends from Abilities United.
With
the tremendous advances in health care in recent years, life
expectancies have increased for those with disabilities, and this is
bringing new challenges. “Now I find myself a trailblazer again,” says
Elinor. “I’m working with Abilities United to explore perhaps developing
a program to help seniors with disabilities – like Eric - avoid feeling
alone and isolated from their peers. We’re very grateful to Abilities
United for allowing Eric to explore new paths here in his senior years.”
Those
of us at Abilities United are very grateful to Elinor for her wonderful
efforts in establishing our organization, and for continually working
to improve services for people with disabilities.
Based on a story submitted by Elinor Burns, edited by Bob Thomas and Wendy Kuehnl
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