Teacher's inspiration leads to 50 years of care in Victoria
Victoria center celebrates 50 years
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An early classroom of the original Devereux School founded in Pennsylvania in 1918. The Devereux Foundation came to Victoria in 1959.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Devereux Foundation-Victoria 50th anniversary
WHEN: 6:30 p.m Friday, Nov. 20
WHERE: One O'Connor Plaza Pavilion
TICKETS: $50
INFORMATION: Sandra Neely, 361-574-7217.
DEVEREUX FOUNDATION TIMELINE
1906 - Helena Devereux, foundation founder, begins career as schoolteacher with an ...
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IF YOU GO
WHAT: Devereux Foundation-Victoria 50th anniversary
WHEN: 6:30 p.m Friday, Nov. 20
WHERE: One O'Connor Plaza Pavilion
TICKETS: $50
INFORMATION: Sandra Neely, 361-574-7217.
DEVEREUX FOUNDATION TIMELINE
1906 - Helena Devereux, foundation founder, begins career as schoolteacher with an interest in students with special needs
1912 - Devereux turns down job offer as the first director of special education in Philadelphia schools and opens her home for a residential therapy center and school for children with learning disabilities.
1918 - Devereux purchases larger house in suburbs of Philadelphia and opens first Devereux School known as Acerwood Tutoring School.
1927 - Devereux Schools incorporated under a private charter.
1938 - The Devereux Foundation is officially chartered as a nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania.
1943 - First Devereux campus outside of the Northeast established on 350-acre estate in Santa Barbara, Calif.
1950 - Devereux resigns as director of the foundation at age 73. Continues to be a consultant.
1957 - The Devereux Foundation Institute for Research and Training is established.
1959 - The third Devereux campus opens in Victoria at Foster Field.
1965 - Devereux School opens in Massachusetts.
1966 - Devereux School opens in Connecticut.
1967 - Devereux School opens in Arizona.
1971 - Children's programs begin operating on the new Victoria campus on U.S. Highway 59 South.
1973 - Devereux School opens in Georgia.
1974 - In October, all 270 beds of the new Victoria campus are filled and the new facility fully operational.
1975 - Helena Devereux dies on Nov. 17 at 90.
It is only fitting that an institution brought to Victoria in part by someone named Constant has been a fixture here for 50 years this month.
Victoria psychiatrist Dr. George Constant helped bring the Devereux Foundation to Victoria and the behavioral healthcare provider has been a steady presence since 1959.
Constant witnessed firsthand the work of foundation founder Helena Devereux in the Northeast and wanted to bring her passion to South Texas.
He convinced Devereux to open a residential treatment center on unoccupied Foster Field. The county leased the property to the organization for $1 a year for 15 years. The Victoria location of the Devereux Foundation, only the second branch campus located outside Pennsylvania, became a reality in 1959.
On Nov. 19, 1959, Devereux admitted its first client. The facility quickly filled with nearly 120 clients with special needs.
Five years later, the "Victoria Committee," consisting of Constant, then county judge Frank Crain, Victoria Advocate publisher Morris Roberts, D.E. Blackburn, Albert York and M.O. Simon, were allowed to pursue expansion plans. A donor gave Devereux 450 acres of land 12 miles south of Victoria.
The new campus was constructed one building at a time. Some programs began at the new location in 1971 with full-blown operations, including 270 clients, starting in 1974.
The Victoria campus now consists of 13 buildings on 125 acres of developed land. Clients range in age from 5 to the 70s.
Devereux includes an educational component as well as a vocational opportunities.
Clients take part in working in the Devereux Gardens shop, the bakery, candle factory, and in the Life Skills Center.
Sandra Neely, Devereux-Victoria development officer, said it was important to recognize the organization's 50th year in Victoria.
"It's hard to really recognize what 50 years is. We've been doing some activities with our clients to let them know what 50 is. We've done 50 hand prints on things, so they'll understand the significance of 50," Neely said. "We understand it's a once-in-a-lifetime deal."
