Queens Centers for Progress Celebrates 65th Anniversary (continued on page 2) health A Brief History Queens Centers for Progress was founded in 1950 as United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Queens by a group of parents seeking much-needed services for their children with cerebral palsy—a lifelong disorder that affects muscle control, movement, and learning abilities. The agency began providing therapy and educational programs for children with cerebral palsy from the basement of a wood-frame house in Queens, now affectionately known as the “haunted house.” Their first fully-dedicated building, at 82-25 164th Street in Jamaica, was built in 1958. As the children grew older and the number of programs offered increased, they doubled the size of their building, and began providing vocational services in 1966. In 1974, the agency began providing day programming for the rising number of adults who had been living in institutional settings and needed vocational and life-skills training services. They built the Natalie Katz Rogers Training and Treatment Center at 81-15 164th Street, named after the “First Lady” of UCP, who has been with the agency since 1950. Now in her 90s, Natalie still plays an active role. “I don’t know what drove me to spend the better part of my life as a volunteer for people with cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities,” she says. “I saw the need and felt an intense compassion. I plan to do what I can for as long as I can.” The agency began providing residential services in 1979 with the opening of the Robert T. Groh Residence in Jamaica Estates, now home to eight seniors. In the 1980s, more services were added for retirement age seniors with developmental disabilities, emphasizing community-based recreation and health education. The program is now called the “Community Connections Center.” The next major expansion, in the late 1980s, included construction of a Day Habilitation site for 150 people in Bellerose, Queens, and five residences that each provides a home for ten adults with
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