About Us
Donate
Help disabled children and adults live life to the fullest. Your gift will make a difference.
To all Friends of ADEC who wish to receive e-mail communication from ADEC please Click Here.
ADEC
P.O. Box 398
Bristol, IN 46507
P: (574) 848-7451
Contact Us
©2004 ADEC Inc.
Read our privacy policy
Site by LightSky
History
In 1952, a small group of parents concerned about the future of their children with disabilities organized the Council for the Retarded of Elkhart County, Inc. The Council operated in private homes until 1955 when the organization’s first facility, a home in Elkhart, was purchased to use for classes and administration.
Other groups, including the Elkhart County Crippled Children’s Society and The Sheltered Workshop, serving adults, also formed during the fifties. These groups would later consolidate and merge in 1970 and become the “Rehab Center.”
The Council for the Retarded, through an extensive community campaign, constructed a school for children with disabilities, which opened in 1966. It was known as Aux Chandelles. In 1974, Aux Chandelles moved to Bristol (ADEC’s present location). Two years later, the Rehab Center and Aux Chandelle merged to form the Association for the Disabled of Elkhart County. In 1991, the acronym ADEC became the official name of the agency.
Currently, ADEC has campuses in Elkhart and Bristol and group residences throughout Elkhart County serving approximately 1,000 individuals each year. ADEC’s vision for the future is but a reflection of ADEC’s mission in the past—working in partnership with all to help people with physical and developmental disabilities, live fuller, richer, more meaningful lives.
