AHRC Nassau

Helen Keller once said, "There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." AHRC provides that helping hand to our more than 3,000 individuals who benefit from the many programs and services we offer.

In the late 1940's there was no place outside of a state institution for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. When AHRC Nassau's Founder and First President Margarette Reiss found out that her three-year-old daughter Louise had developmental disabilities, she reached out to other parents.

 
She read an ad placed by Ann Greenberg, Founder of AHRC New York City that appeared in July 1949 in the New York Post. Margaret Reiss answered that ad which invited parents to help start a nursery school for special needs children, and became one of the nine original members of AHRC NYC.
 
Recognizing this same need for children with developmental disabilities on Long Island, Margaret placed her own ad in Newsday. Nineteen people contacted her and met at the Carle Place fire house. Margaret and a representative of the newly-formed New York City Chapter spoke to the group of parents and urged them to take action to help their children. That night the parents voted to form the Long Island Chapter of AHRC. A year later, the chapter split into two separate chapters: Nassau and Suffolk.

AHRC’s first officers were voted into office at the first meeting in the fire house and included: Margarette Reiss, President; James McConnell, Vice President; Joan McConnell Treasurer; Rita Jedlicka, Recording Secretary and Helen Kaplan, Corresponding Secretary.
 
The group banded together to form AHRC’s first programs, they raised funds to purchase the Brookville estate in 1958, and dedicated their lives to establishing community-based programs offering opportunities for achievement and acceptance to people who, for the most part, had been routinely relegated to institutions or hidden away at home.
 
Over time, Helen Kaplan served as Vice President, President and became Executive Director of AHRC in 1961 until her retirement in 1988. Under her guidance and the board of directors, the organization expanded throughout Nassau County to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities throughout their lives.
 
The group established an active board of directors to guide the organization, a network of local volunteer auxiliaries, and a staff of caring professionals to meet the individual needs of each child and adult served in AHRC's programs.  The strength of board, volunteers, and staff has been the enduring hallmark of AHRC's growth and development. Their hopes and dreams, as those of the early pioneers in the field of mental retardation, have been far exceeded.  AHRC Nassau has grown from a small summer day camp to a full-range of community-based programs and services.  Today, AHRC Nassau serves more than 3,000 individuals with developmental disabilities. They can now choose from a wide range of opportunities - from home, community, and center-based early intervention to education, day programs, vocational training, supported and full employment, volunteer experiences, recreation, respite, community living, and clinical services.
 
AHRC Nassau is a participating Agency of Long Island's United Way.

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