If you’ve lived in central Indiana for any length of time, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name Easterseals Crossroads.
But you may have also wondered: What exactly does Easterseals Crossroads do?
The answer is bigger than any single program or service.
For 90 years, Easterseals Crossroads has been part of the central Indiana community, serving and advocating for people with disabilities and their families. From a toddler working toward an important developmental milestone to an adult looking for meaningful employment, our programs are designed around a common goal: helping people maximize their independence and achieve what matters to them.
Serving Our Community Since 1936
Our story began in 1936 with a small group of teenagers with disabilities who came together for socialization. What started with just a few volunteers grew over the decades into one of central Indiana’s most comprehensive providers of disability services.
Today, Easterseals Crossroads provides services for children, adults and families throughout our community.
While the programs have changed and expanded over the years, our purpose remains clear: we serve and advocate for people with disabilities and their families.
Our vision is equally important: a community with 100% equity, inclusion and access for people with disabilities.
What Does Easterseals Crossroads Actually Do?
One of the biggest misconceptions about Easterseals Crossroads may be that we serve only children or people with certain types of disabilities.
In reality, our services can support people at many different ages and stages of life.
For children and families, that can include early intervention, autism services and augmentative communication. These services can help children develop skills, communicate, participate in everyday activities and become more independent.
As young people prepare for adulthood, programs such as transition services and Project SEARCH can help them explore employment, build workplace skills and prepare for what comes next.
For adults, our services include employment programs, adult day services and resources for veterans, among other supports. Our goal isn’t to define success for someone. It is to provide the resources and opportunities that can help each person pursue their own goals.
And our work goes beyond traditional disability services.
Through programs such as assistive technology, Deaf services and home modification services, we help people access tools, communication and environments that can make greater independence possible.
We also believe recreation, connection and belonging matter. Camps, respite programs and other community activities give people opportunities to have fun, build friendships, try something new and simply be part of their community.
Disability Can Be Part of Anyone’s Story
Sometimes people don’t think about disability services until they or someone they love needs them.
A child may experience a developmental delay. A teenager with a disability may begin thinking about life after high school. An adult may acquire a disability after an injury or illness. A veteran may need support transitioning to civilian life. A family may suddenly begin searching for assistive technology or ways to make a home more accessible.
There isn’t one type of person who comes through our doors.
That’s why Easterseals Crossroads offers programs that can support people across different stages of life.
And sometimes the most important thing we can provide is a place to start.
Independence Looks Different for Everyone
At Easterseals Crossroads, we talk a lot about independence.
But independence doesn’t have one definition.
It might mean a child finding a new way to communicate.
It could mean someone landing their first job.
It might mean learning to use assistive technology, developing skills to participate more fully in the community, finding resources after military service or gaining greater independence in everyday life.
The goal is not to decide what someone should be able to do. It is to listen to what they want to accomplish and help connect them with services, resources and opportunities that can support those goals.
That’s why our services are individualized and family-focused. Every person who connects with Easterseals Crossroads brings different experiences, abilities, challenges and goals.
Our Impact Reaches Beyond the People We Serve
When someone gains greater independence, the impact rarely stops with that individual.
Families gain support. Employers gain talented employees. Caregivers gain resources. Communities become more accessible and inclusive.
That ripple effect is an important part of who we are.
Easterseals Crossroads serves thousands of people with disabilities each year, but the broader impact extends to families, friends, coworkers, employers and others throughout our community.
Our work also includes creating employment opportunities directly. Crossroads Industrial Services, our competitive social enterprise division, has a workforce in which 75% of employees are people with disabilities who are paid market wages. Profits from the business help support underfunded services at Easterseals Crossroads.
It is one more way our mission extends beyond providing services and into creating opportunities.
We’re Here for Central Indiana
For someone unfamiliar with Easterseals Crossroads, the easiest way to understand us may be this:
We are a resource for people with disabilities, their families and our community.
You don’t need to know the name of the program you need before contacting us. You don’t need to understand every service we provide. And you don’t need to have all the answers.
Whether you’re a parent looking for resources for your child, a person with a disability looking for greater independence, a job seeker, a veteran, a caregiver, an employer wanting to build a more inclusive workforce or a community member who simply wants to learn more, Easterseals Crossroads is here.
Because creating a community with greater equity, inclusion and access doesn’t happen through one program, one organization or one person.
It happens when we work together.
