Our History

Approximately 140 years ago, across the square from the White House in Washington, D.C., the parishioners of St. John’s Episcopal Church made a commitment to their community to assist others suffering in the devastation experienced in the aftermath of the Civil War.  Children were orphaned, homeless, begging and even drinking from the sewers of our nation’s capital.  Adults were injured, sick and penniless.  The parishioners rallied and created a number of charities.  One that persevered since 1868 is St. John’s Community Services (SJCS).

For several years, the ladies of the church volunteered to feed and care for children and adults on the streets of Washington; then in the mid-1870’s a hospital was founded to care for them.  By the 1880’s, SJCS transitioned to care for children who were orphaned and in need of a loving home.  The orphanage continued its mission for nearly 80 years until it transformed itself in 1957 to the St. John’s Child Development Center, the very first alternative in the nation’s capital to the warehouse type of maltreatment and neglect provided by the government operated institution.

The Center primarily served children with mild to moderate mental retardation until 1980 when, based on a community needs assessment, it was determined that it could best serve the DC community by providing 1) educational services for children with more severe disabilities such as autism, 2) early intervention services for infants and toddlers, and 3) community living, vocational and educational services for adults with disabilities. This began a process of growth and diversification for the organization that continues today. 

In the 1980’s, when the state institution was ordered to close by court order, SJCS was among the first to create homes in the community for the former residents. In 1989, St. John’s Community Services embraced a new mission and a commitment to support people in typical community settings, while at the same time moving completely away from facility-based services. In the late 1990’s, SJCS closed its historical school, the first alternative to the institution, and moved it and the children into the DC Public Schools. Today under the joint supervision of SJCS and the public schools, children with severe disabilities enjoy the benefits of an education with their non-disabled neighborhood peers.

SJCS was also the first service provider to create individual volunteer and employment opportunities in the community within the non-disabled workforce. SJCS was the first to pioneer such services in Northern Virginia at the request of several local governments.  In Tennessee, SJCS fought and won both a state and a federal fair housing discrimination lawsuit when neighbors attempted to stop three severely disabled women attempting to return to their community after years of unnecessary institutionalization, and discriminated against the African American staff supporting their successful transition back to the community.  SJCS was among the first non-profit providers in New Jersey to answer the call to close down an institution in Princeton and to expand residential and inclusive day services throughout the state.  In Pennsylvania, SJCS responded to the City of Philadelphia government to create the first supported employment program for residents with severe disabilities under a court order to leave the abusive Pennhurst State institution. 

At SJCS, our driving force is our mission—Advancing Community Support and Opportunities for People Living with Disabilities.  We are no ordinary social service or health care agency; we “advance” the cause for people with disabilities to be active contributing members of their community.  Today after much growth, SJCS continues this heritage by supporting people with disabilities and their families to make choices, to have dreams for the future, and to enjoy the quality of life that we all strive to achieve.