Easter Seals (US)
Encyclopedia
Easter Seals is a nonprofit charitable organization
that assists more than one million children and adults with autism
and other disabilities
and special needs
annually through a network of more than 550 service sites in the United States
, Canada
, Australia
and Puerto Rico
. Sites provide services, therapies and treatments tailored to meet the specific needs of the particular community it serves. The organization assists children and adults with physical and mental disabilities and special needs resulting from any cause, whether diagnosed at birth or incurred through disease, accidental injury or the aging process.
Easter Seals meets the standards of the National Health Council and the Better Business Bureau/Wise Giving Alliance
.
crash. The lack of adequate medical services available to save his son prompted Allen to sell his business and begin a fund-raising campaign to build a hospital in his hometown of Elyria, Ohio
. That hospital continues to operate today as Elyria Memorial Hospital. After the hospital was built, Allen learned that children with disabilities were often hidden from public view. Inspired by this discovery, in 1919 he founded what would become the National Society for Crippled Children, the first organization of its kind.
. To show support for the program, donors purchased the seals and placed them on envelopes and letters, in addition to normal postage. Plain Dealer cartoonist J.H. Donahey designed the first seal. Donahey based the design on a concept of simplicity because those served by the charity asked "simply for the right to live a normal life." The overwhelming public support for the seals campaign raised $47,000, over twice the annual budget, and triggered a nationwide expansion of the organization and a swell of grassroots efforts on behalf of people with disabilities. In 1944, the organization broadened its mission to help adults and achieved a nationwide reach by 1950.
Despite the use of Christian symbolism
, the organization is not affiliated with any particular religious organization and does not discriminate. The similarly named Christmas Seals program started in 1908 and is associated with the American Lung Association
.
, community-based organization. Approximately 90 percent of Easter Seals' revenue
supports services in the areas where funds are raised. For more than 25 consecutive years, Easter Seals has ranked first among National Health Council members for the percentage (94 percent) of program dollars spent on direct client services. Easter Seals receives funding from a variety of sources, including private insurers
, government agencies
, public contributions and fee-for-service. Public contributions help cover the difference between actual program costs and what clients can afford. Easter Seals primary services benefit over 1.3 million individuals each year through more than 550 centers in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia.
of people with disabilities by prohibiting the discrimination against anyone who has a mental or physical disability in the area of employment, public services, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunications.
and Washington, D.C.
provide assistance to 83 affiliate
s through management training, implementation of best practice
s, consultation
services, fundraising
, marketing
and corporate relations. The headquarters office in Washington D.C. advocates for the passage of legislation
to help people with disabilities achieve independence. Easter Seals public policy priorities focus on issues such as early intervention and education, employment, health care, child care, disability program funding, the Americans with Disabilities Act and services to aging Americans.
in their local communities. Each affiliate operates as an independent Easter Seals corporation.
Easter Seals National House of Delegates consists of volunteers certified by their affiliates to represent them as delegates at the organization’s annual convention, thus ensuring broad representation of Easter Seals affiliates nationwide. In addition to the numerous training and motivational sessions offered to Easter Seals board members, delegates and affiliate staff throughout the convention, the Annual Meeting of the House takes place, when the house elects new members to the national board and addresses any other motions put before it.
the organization serves, both through its services developed specifically for people with autism and through services that include children and adults with autism among other service recipients. The organization works internationally to provide children and adults with autism individualized treatment plans and comprehensive services.
Easter Seals programs across the country provide a wide variety of interventions that help individuals of all abilities, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Easter Seals currently has a combination of services specifically targeting individuals with the diagnosis of ASD as well as other services that include individuals with ASD among their service recipients.
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
that assists more than one million children and adults with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and other disabilities
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
and special needs
Special needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
annually through a network of more than 550 service sites in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Sites provide services, therapies and treatments tailored to meet the specific needs of the particular community it serves. The organization assists children and adults with physical and mental disabilities and special needs resulting from any cause, whether diagnosed at birth or incurred through disease, accidental injury or the aging process.
Easter Seals meets the standards of the National Health Council and the Better Business Bureau/Wise Giving Alliance
BBB Wise Giving Alliance
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance is an association of charities formed by a merger of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus' Foundation and its Philanthropic Advisory Service . It publishes a set of standards of accountability for charitable...
.
Tragedy leads to inspiration
The organization that would become Easter Seals was founded by Edgar Allen, an Ohio businessman who lost his son in a streetcarTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
crash. The lack of adequate medical services available to save his son prompted Allen to sell his business and begin a fund-raising campaign to build a hospital in his hometown of Elyria, Ohio
Elyria, Ohio
-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...
. That hospital continues to operate today as Elyria Memorial Hospital. After the hospital was built, Allen learned that children with disabilities were often hidden from public view. Inspired by this discovery, in 1919 he founded what would become the National Society for Crippled Children, the first organization of its kind.
The birth of the Easter Seals seal
In the spring of 1934, the organization launched its first "seals" campaign to raise money for its services after funding declined during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. To show support for the program, donors purchased the seals and placed them on envelopes and letters, in addition to normal postage. Plain Dealer cartoonist J.H. Donahey designed the first seal. Donahey based the design on a concept of simplicity because those served by the charity asked "simply for the right to live a normal life." The overwhelming public support for the seals campaign raised $47,000, over twice the annual budget, and triggered a nationwide expansion of the organization and a swell of grassroots efforts on behalf of people with disabilities. In 1944, the organization broadened its mission to help adults and achieved a nationwide reach by 1950.
The "Easter Seals" name emerges
The lily, a symbol of spring, was officially incorporated as Easter Seals' logo in 1952 for its association with resurrection and new life. The creation of the Easter Lily as the seal was the work of Ruth Miley McClellan of Petersburg, Indiana. It was presented to the national headquarters of the organization in Chicago in October of 1952 and chosen as the society's symbol at a convention in San Francisco where Mrs. McClellan attended as one of three delegates representing Indiana. It has appeared on each seal since then. By 1967, the Easter "seal" was so well recognized, the organization formally adopted the name "Easter Seals." Today, Easter Seals holds an annual seal art contest, open to the public. Each year, six winning seal artwork designs are chosen and featured on the seals. Easter Seals mails seals to more than 19 million households across the country every year.Despite the use of Christian symbolism
Christian symbolism
Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from the common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world. Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and...
, the organization is not affiliated with any particular religious organization and does not discriminate. The similarly named Christmas Seals program started in 1908 and is associated with the American Lung Association
American Lung Association
The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease.-History:...
.
Services
Easter Seals offers a variety of services designed to meet individual needs. Therapists, teachers and other health professionals help people overcome obstacles to independence and reach their individual goals. Families are treated as active members of any therapy program. Services include, but are not limited to:- Medical Rehabilitation (including Physical therapyPhysical therapyPhysical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
, Occupational therapyOccupational therapyOccupational therapy is a discipline that aims to promote health by enabling people to perform meaningful and purposeful activities. Occupational therapists work with individuals who suffer from a mentally, physically, developmentally, and/or emotionally disabling condition by utilizing treatments...
, speech-hearing therapyPhysical therapyPhysical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
and early interventionEarly Childhood InterventionEarly childhood intervention is a support system for children with developmental disabilities or delays and their families.The mission of Early Childhood Intervention is to assure that families who have children ages birth to three, with diagnosed disabilities, developmental delays or substantial...
) - Residential Services (serving children, adolescents, and adults)
- Job Training and Employment
- Child Care for children ages 6 months to 5 years
- Adult Day Programs for adults with disabilities and older adults
- Camping and Recreation for children and adults to experience all aspects of camp without usual limitations
- Substance Abuse Programs
Fundraising
Easter Seals is a grassrootsGrassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
, community-based organization. Approximately 90 percent of Easter Seals' revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
supports services in the areas where funds are raised. For more than 25 consecutive years, Easter Seals has ranked first among National Health Council members for the percentage (94 percent) of program dollars spent on direct client services. Easter Seals receives funding from a variety of sources, including private insurers
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
, government agencies
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
, public contributions and fee-for-service. Public contributions help cover the difference between actual program costs and what clients can afford. Easter Seals primary services benefit over 1.3 million individuals each year through more than 550 centers in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia.
Legislative action
Children and adults with disabilities disproportionately rely on government programs in order to access education, health care, housing, transportation and employment services. Easter Seals has been active in public policy advocacy since the 1920s, working with federal, state and local officials and agencies to advocate for the passage of legislation to help people with disabilities achieve independence. This includes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Passed in 1990, the ADA guarantees the civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
of people with disabilities by prohibiting the discrimination against anyone who has a mental or physical disability in the area of employment, public services, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunications.
Headquarters
Easter Seals headquarters offices in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
provide assistance to 83 affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
s through management training, implementation of best practice
Best practice
A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark...
s, consultation
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
services, fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
and corporate relations. The headquarters office in Washington D.C. advocates for the passage of legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
to help people with disabilities achieve independence. Easter Seals public policy priorities focus on issues such as early intervention and education, employment, health care, child care, disability program funding, the Americans with Disabilities Act and services to aging Americans.
Affiliates and service sites
Nationwide, Easter Seals' 83 affiliates and over 550 service sites provide services to people with disabilities and special needsSpecial needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
in their local communities. Each affiliate operates as an independent Easter Seals corporation.
Board of Directors and House of Delegates
Easter Seals is governed by a National Board of Directors, which is composed of volunteers, most of whom are nominated by one of the organization’s approximately 85 affiliates across the country. Elections to the Board, composed of between 15 and 19 members, are held annually by another larger volunteer body, Easter Seals National House of Delegates. Directors are elected for three-year terms, and terms are staggered to achieve strength and continuity on the board.Easter Seals National House of Delegates consists of volunteers certified by their affiliates to represent them as delegates at the organization’s annual convention, thus ensuring broad representation of Easter Seals affiliates nationwide. In addition to the numerous training and motivational sessions offered to Easter Seals board members, delegates and affiliate staff throughout the convention, the Annual Meeting of the House takes place, when the house elects new members to the national board and addresses any other motions put before it.
Autism spectrum disorders and the road ahead
Over the last 20 years, Easter Seals has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people with autismAutism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
the organization serves, both through its services developed specifically for people with autism and through services that include children and adults with autism among other service recipients. The organization works internationally to provide children and adults with autism individualized treatment plans and comprehensive services.
Easter Seals programs across the country provide a wide variety of interventions that help individuals of all abilities, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Easter Seals currently has a combination of services specifically targeting individuals with the diagnosis of ASD as well as other services that include individuals with ASD among their service recipients.
External links
- Easter Seals website
- Easter Seals and Autism Web site
- Easter Seals legislative action
- Easter Seals' “A Symbol of America’s Generosity” video[
- The Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society A non profit organization founded in 1931, publishing catalogs of worldwide fund raising seals including Easter seals, and Christmas Seals; as well as a quarterly journal, Seal News.