Times of Change: New People, New Ideas, and New Toothpaste

EP!C Now and Then: A Peek into the Past

Welcome back to our blog! We’ve got a slightly different look to go with a new author, and I am excited to be here. Coming from a position in Erbil, Iraq, I hope to bring fresh eyes and experience to an exciting organization.

As you can imagine, transitioning from life in Erbil to life in Peoria has been quite a change, in both the big things and the small. For example, I can walk into the grocery store here and meander through the aisles for a couple hours in wonder of the impossibly large selection of products. When I pick out toothpaste, for instance, I’ve got options. I am not limited to Colgate Total and the off-brand tubes piled next to it that often constituted the oral health section of the markets in Erbil. I have an entire aisle with products promising to polish my pearly whites without irritation, transform them to be blindingly white, endow their enamel with Popeye-like strength, and make my breath smell like roses.

The strangely diverse options for toothpaste aside, I am not the only one going through transition. After I arrived in the U.S., what I had been reading in the news about the multiple waves of change that have rocked our country and our local community became a reality. On my frequent and drawn-out tours of the grocery store, I met people who had been laid off or offered early retirement from CAT and others who were part of State-sponsored programs that had had their budgets cut.  EP!C is no exception to the wide-spread change sweeping through our community, as the State budget crisis has forced EP!C to close the doors of the Respite Center and strains the budget.

The first class grew to impact more and more lives, becoming more visible in the community for what it was doing.

In some ways, though, change is nothing new for EP!C. Starting with EP!C, I was struck by its long and varied history . So struck, in fact, that I was inspired to recognize EP!C’s story with a Throwback Thursday post on Twitter.  As it turns out, EP!C used to be called PARC until 2013 when it became EP!C. It started out as a small gathering organized by parents of children with disabilities in a neighborhood house, becoming a school in 1950. It became incorporated in 1957, and since then has been on a path of continual growth and development as it has expanded it services, locations, and living options over the last (nearly) six decades.

From a chalkboard to a specially equipped computer

The EP!C I walked into a couple weeks ago was much larger than the class that started it all. Now there is a diverse array of educational, residential, and employment options. The Harvest Program, an arm of the organization that runs a carefully cultivated garden, is also thriving and helping people connect. The massive building I first walked into is not an empty shell; it is abuzz with all types of movement, change, action, and improvement. Though EP!C is indeed going through change, it continues to adjust and MAKE change happen in the lives of the individuals and families we serve.

Which brings me back to the grocery store (yes, really). While wandering through the aisles (I think I was in the coffee and tea section, amazed at the wall of Keurig capsules), I also met a family who happened to have a son with a developmental disability. When I mentioned EP!C, the father’s face lit up as he told me that they had just started working with EP!C and how great EP!C had been through the entire process. EP!C had permanently impacted and changed their lives for the better and continues to do so for hundreds of other individuals and families.

Sometime change is hard, but it also provides us with an opportunity to move forward. So during this time of change, let’s continue to do what EP!C has always done: adjust, adapt, and continue making a impact in the lives of those we love and care about in our community.

(And don't worry, I, too, am embracing change with a newly purchased tube of advanced whitening toothpaste. Let there be light!)