Easter Seals Arkansas*

57-Year-Old Agency Keeps Adding Services

Sharon Moone-Jochums describes the nonprofit she heads – Easter Seals Arkansas – as “the Susan Lucci of the Arkansas Business of the Year Awards.”

Like the soap opera actress who was repeatedly nominated for Emmy awards without a win, Easter Seals is making its fourth appearance as a finalist in the nonprofit organization category. Moone-Jochums did, however, take home the award for Nonprofit Executive of the Year in 1997.

Easter Seals keeps catching the eye of Business of the Year judges because of the continued growth of its programs to improve the lives of children and adults with disabilities or other special needs. Easter Seals has 300 employees and a budget of $14.5 million this fiscal year. It serves 6,500 Arkansans a year.

In 2000, Easter Seals expanded its Delta Project, which helps identify and treat disabled children, from six counties to 15 counties in the Arkansas Delta. Easter Seals Arkansas is also providing expertise for similar programs being developed in the Delta areas of Mississippi and Louisiana.

In conjunction with St. Francis House and St. Vincent Health System, the organization started the Easter Seals Early Head Start Center for low-income families in Little Rock.

“It has been amazing. We opened the doors full in July,” Moone-Jochums said. “Out of 46 kids, we’ve found 12 of them with developmental delays, and we’ll be able to catch them up and get them ready.”

And she said: “We’re just about to break ground [this month] on the 18 apartments for adults with disabilities. We’re very excited about that.”

The apartment building in west Little Rock was made possible by $1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is the Easter Seals Arkansas’ first experiment with independent apartments for clients after several years of experience running a group home for 10 disabled adults who need assistance with everyday activities.

Easter Seals Arkansas was founded in 1944. It has had only three directors in its 57-year history.