Hope Enterprises and the Children's Development Center have been offering unique brands of special human services for decades locally.
Children with mental disabilities have been given a positive place to develop by Hope since 1952.
Occupational, physical and speech therapy as well as pediatric neurology have been key services of the Children's Development Center, founded as a project by the Williamsport Rotary Club in 1932.
But as effective as the two organizations have been as human services organizations, they still are subject to the same challenges as any business. And in that world, entities merge with smaller ones to pool resources.
And that type of merger was completed last week by Hope Enterprises and the Children's Development Center. It was a tribute to vision and leaders putting parochial egotism aside, a refreshing turn away from the trend in territorial leadership style. As a result, both organizations can help each other better provide the services for which they are known.
And as future funding from the state and federal government becomes less and less a regrettable development brought on by decades of freewheeling, sloppy spending habits this merger will help Hope and the CDC survive and thrive.
The leadership of both organizations deserves congratulations and gratitude from the community for placing the need for and value of their services above any quest for territorial power.
We see an effective partnership that will carry Hope Enterprises and the Children's Development Center into the foreseeable future with new momentum.
