Before there was a National Developmental Awareness Month, there was the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

Since its founding in 1967, the board has grown to provide educational services and programming to thousands of area residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

The organization can trace its roots to the efforts of Josina Lott, who, in 1938, converted the dining room of her Old West End apartment into a classroom for disabled children.

Michele Myerholtz, superintendent for Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities, discussed the organization’s history and mission and the programs and services it offers during a lunchtime presentation to the Rotary Club of Toledo on Monday.

The presentation coincides with March being National Developmental Awareness Month, an effort to generate awareness for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The mission of the local board is to “improve life so that individuals with disabilities can reach their full potential,” she said.

“Here in Lucas County and across Ohio, we focus on every one of the 100,000 individuals that we serve everyday, not just in the month of March,” Ms. Myerholtz said. “It is, however, a great month where we can showcase both the amazing individuals that we serve and the amazing work that we get to do as an agency every single day.”

As an educator, Ms. Lott was disturbed by how many children with disabilities were denied the chance to attend school at the time, Ms. Myerholtz said.

That reality led Ms. Lott to transform the dining room in her apartment into a classroom, her first student being a young first grader with cerebral palsy, Ms. Myerholtz said. By the end of that year, that student was able to read, write, and do math.

“What began with one student grew to 15, all crowded in her small dining room in the Old West End,” the superintendent said. “Ms. Lott was a force of nature, a woman driven by a mission to give every child to find one purpose.”

The Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities was created in 1967 after the Ohio state legislature decided all of the state’s 88 counties should have a board of developmental disabilities, she said.

Ms. Lott’s work with residents living with intellectual and developmental disabilities was somewhat revolutionary, Ms. Myerholtz said.

Lucas County also had the first property tax in Ohio to support institutions like the Larc Lane School, which opened in 1962. 

“We are very innovative,” Ms. Myerholtz said of the board. 

The board offers services through its children’s department, service and support administration, community inclusion program, and provider support program, which supports 500 medical providers.

The board also works with several partners within Lucas County, Ms. Myerholtz said, including the Toledo Lucas County Health Department, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, and the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.

Keith Burwell, member of Rotary Club of Toledo and former president and chief executive officer of the Greater Toledo Community Foundation, said it was nice for him to hear an update about the work being done at the board. 

“We’re one of the leaders in the state,” Mr. Burwell said. “Every county has one and I think that ours is leading the way, as she demonstrated in some of the innovative programs we’re doing here, which is kind of neat to think about.”

Cindy Kerr, vice president of community relations for Sunshine Communities, a nonprofit that supports residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, said Ms. Myerholtz did a great job explaining the needs of the importance of organizations like Sunshine Communities and the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabiltiies. 

“It’s very important that people understand how individuals with developmental disabilities receive those services and we appreciate Michele coming out today to educate people,” Ms. Kerr said. “As a Rotarian myself, it’s very important that they know that there are also service opportunities, not only at Sunshine but through the board, through Special Olympics, and all the great programs that we offer in Lucas County.”

First Published March 10, 2025, 9:22 p.m.