Overview

The Belle Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the interests of children with disabilities and their families.  Our staff of educators and speech-language, occupational and physical therapists travel to the places that make up a child's typical day, including schools, day camps, homes,  day care centers and other community sites to provide services to children in their natural environments.  We also provide supportive services to complement these therapies, including parent support, participation in educational planning meetings, sibling support groups, socialization groups and workshops on topics related to inclusion, child development and disability, to name a few.

Mission Statement
The Belle Center promotes the rights and expectations of all children to be fully included in the community.  The Center provides a progressive, family-centered inclusive approach to education and community life that supports children with disabilities and their families.

Core Values

• Family-Centered Approach  Families are the primary decision-makers regarding their children's learning experiences and development.
• Advocacy:  Advocacy is powerful.  It can cause positive changes in the lives of the children whose families practice it, as well as within larger circles of children and families in the community.
• Inclusion:  Interactive learning experiences for children with and without disabilities are beneficial for ALL participants.
• Collaboration:  All members of a team - those persons designated by the family to provide support - are valuable when working together in the best interest of the child and family.  A combination of unique strengths and roles forms the foundation.
• Natural Environments:  Families and children get support within, and relevant to, the places and activities that make up their lives.

History
The Belle Center was founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1984, where it was the first organization to provide a preschool program in which children with and without disabilities could learn and play together.  This occurred at a time when it was difficult for families to identify communtiy care providers who were willing to accept young children with special needs, much less include them in groups with their typically developing peers.

In its twenty years of service, the Belle Center's programs have grown to meet the needs of the children, families, schools and community providers with whom we work.  In St. Louis, the Belle Center continues to operate a Center-Based inclusive program in partnership with Zelda Epstein Day Care Center.  Belle St. Louis also offers activities and discussion groups to support the familiy members of children with disabilities through its Families as Partners Program.  Finally, the Outreach Program supports the inclusion of children with disabilities in programs with their typically developing peers through the provision of direct therapeutic and educational services in homes, schools and other community settings.

The Belle Center reached an important milestone in 1998 when it accepted a challenge to bring its model of direct service and family support to the Chicago area.  Acting on the invitation and financial support of a family previously served by the Belle Center in St. Louis, the Belle Center of Chicago started by supporting a single child in an inclusive school setting in Chicago.  What began with one child soon grew to include multiple children.  Today, the Belle Center of Chicago has grown to become its own Illinois non-profit organization while continuing to collaborate with its affiliate in St. Louis. 

Like our partner in St. Louis, the Belle Center of Chicago has tailored its programs to the unique needs of the communites we serve.  Through our Community Outreach Program, we bring mobile educational and therapeutic services to homes, schools, day camps and other sites to support children with disabilities in their natural environments.  Our Family Support Program offers practical advice and support around such issues as school placement, negotiating support services through the public school system and how to access recreational and extra-curricular activities.  Most recently, we have responded to an increasing number of requests from schools and community-based programs for consultative services through our Inclusion Education Initiative.  Finally, as we continue to expand our presence in Chicago, we hope to collaborate with other individuals, agencies and stakeholders interested in advancing the rights of children with disabilities and their families through Policy and Advocacy work.