Jerry Summers
When a small group of dedicated parents placed a small advertisement in a local newspaper in 1952 calling for a meeting of parents with children with mental and physical disabilities it was the beginning of what is now an umbrella organization that cares for 720 individuals.
There are now 65 group homes where Orange Grove Center (OGC) clients can live independently under the supervision of a house manager in locations throughout Hamilton County and Northwest Georgia.
Daily transportation to and from the present center at 615 Derby St., as well as a multitude of employment and volunteer sites, is provided by 141 buses and over 700 dedicated staff members who daily instruct and support the clients.
The favorable response of the comments to the newspaper ad was a typical reaction of the public and governments in our area.
Orange Grove Elementary School on Main Street was surplus property and, after the school was chartered with the State of Tennessee, it opened in 1953 with its first class of 26 students.
The Main Street property was transferred to the center by the Chattanooga Board of Education.
The growth of OGC continued upward and in 1959 the staff had increased to 24 members to support 166 clients.
With the establishment of a Department of Mental Health under the administration of Governor Frank Clement, OGC was able to acquire necessary state financial support in addition to the support of individuals, the Tennessee Legislature, local governments, the Chattanooga Jaycees and the United Way amongst many others.
When the old Central High School relocated to Highway 58 the center was able to acquire their football practice field in Glenwood, which now is the site of the present facility.
In 1968 the first Special Olympics program under physical trainer instructor Lloyd Ray Smith was initiated and he developed teams in several sports on a local, state and international level of participation. It is now under the supervision of Dr. Rick Rader after the death of Lloyd Ray.
The ground breaking of the Derby Street location took place in 1969 and in 1970 when the center opened 760 clients were being served.
The number of clients has fluctuated over the years due to changing state and federal regulations governing the care and supervision of mentally and physically disabled individuals.
When the policy of “mainstreaming” of less disabled students to attend local schools was initiated the clientele at OGC evolved into treatment of the most seriously handicapped students.
The placing of mentally capable individuals in jobs with local businesses and at the Walker Lerch Industrial complex has also been reduced due to changing government regulations.
In 1972 a dental clinic program was established to provide proper care of clients’ teeth issues. The program has been accredited by the University Of Tennessee College Of Dentistry as the first and only teaching site for special care dentistry.
In 1988 the John Germ Recycling Center opened to provided work opportunities for qualified clients and to earn additional financial support for the center.
The dedication of the parents, volunteers, staff and Board of Directors at OGC is unsurpassed in its support.
Due to continuing fluctuation of government support creative efforts to raise funds for the operation of the center have been tried. Some have been successful, some have not.
In the 1980s when a bingo scandal rocked the State of Tennessee, parents, staff and volunteers planned to conduct bingo in the centers’ cafeteria to raise money to support OGC.
The “Rocky Top” bingo scandal had resulted in many individuals going to jail and the Tennessee General Assembly enacting amendments to the gaming laws which made it almost impossible to obtain a bingo license from the Alcohol Beverage Commission. The action drove the criminals out of the industry but also caused some legitimate charities to close their bingo parlors.
Longtime OGC attorney Tom Caldwell and other pro-bono lawyers believed that the Center could legitimately run a bingo parlor and applied for a license.
After being told by the ABC that they didn’t believe that any charity could comply with the new stringent bingo laws passed by the Tennessee General Assembly a hearing was held and Tom and his team made their presentation. A license was granted with the ABC Board commenting that they didn’t think that any organization could qualify to get a license but that OGC did qualify.
Armed with the license and the opportunity to have a monopoly in the bingo field, the center prepared for a grand opening and practiced how to run a legitimate operation with the intention of raising a substantial amount of money to operate OGC because all of the operating expenses would be handled by volunteers.
Unfortunately on the Wednesday before the bingo games were to start on Saturday the Tennessee Supreme Court held on Feb. 27, 1999 that the state's new bingo laws were unconstitutional.
In spite of this defeat OGC has moved forward and continues to expand its list of services to benefit its clients. To list them all would be too numerous to include in a short article.
However, the center's website at “Orangegrovecenter.org” is a wealth of information about other activities at the center.
Everyone involved would be honored if you or you organization would become involved with Orange Grove.
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Jerry Summers
(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)