Elwyn (company)

Elwyn has operations in 8 states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina.

Bridgman was studying at the South Boston Institute for the Blind, and while there Elwyn visited a classroom for mentally disabled children run by teacher Dr. James B.

[4] Their efforts to create interest and support within the academic community led to the incorporation of the Pennsylvania Training School in 1854, obtaining an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for $10,000, provisions for ten students, and a large farm near Media, PA.[5] The buildings were completed in 1859 and Elwyn, Richards, and 25 students moved in on September 1, 1859.

He created one of the first congregant settings for persons living with disabilities, including the establishment of a custodial and grounds-keeping department.

During their time as presidents during the mid to late 19th century there were two societal shifts regarding intellectual disabilities: industrialization created more challenges for the full integration of people with intellectual disabilities back into their communities and Charles Darwin’s research on evolution led theories of selective breeding that led to the eugenics movement.

[11] Kerlin's town, or colony, model fit well into the growing popularity of custodialism, a practice which Barr readily endorsed and attempted to implement at Elwyn.

Eugenicists like Barr believed that by keeping residents from passing on what they thought to be hereditary defects, they could gradually rid the world of disability.

[12] As President Whitney served post WW II, Elwyn became a cohesive community model which much of staff living on campus.

By the end of Whitney’s tenure, the nation’s ideas on intellectual disabilities began to resemble the more modern versions of today.

During his administration, Elwyn made strides away from the self-contained institutional model and turned towards community-based special education and rehabilitation services for children and adults with disabilities.

Elwyn developed vocational training courses and achieved licensure as a private trade school from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Instruction.

In 1998, Elwyn was awarded the Mutually Agreed Upon Written Arrangement (MAWA) contract for the City of Philadelphia’s early intervention program.

[16] On April 1, 2017, Dr. Cornelius retired and Charles S. McLister became Elwyn’s ninth President and Chief Executive Officer.

[17] Elwyn acquired Fellowship Health Resources, founded in 1975 in Rhode Island by current board member, Alan Wichlei.