HDC spotlights its work with new Empowering Abilities name 

There was a sea of smiles along with shouts of joy from hundreds of HDC participants Thursday, Nov. 16, as the Handicapped Development Center – an organization that is their lifeline – unveiled its new name: Empowering Abilities. Leading the party-like atmosphere outside HDC’s 3402 Hickory Grove Road, Davenport, location, President and CEO Jeff Ashcraft […]

There was a sea of smiles along with shouts of joy from hundreds of HDC participants Thursday, Nov. 16, as the Handicapped Development Center – an organization that is their lifeline – unveiled its new name: Empowering Abilities. Leading the party-like atmosphere outside HDC’s 3402 Hickory Grove Road, Davenport, location, President and CEO Jeff Ashcraft announced “Welcome to Empowering Abilities! You will no longer know us as Handicapped Development Center. You will no longer know us as HDC.”

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Mr. Ashcraft was assisted in the reveal by a large box truck sporting the Empowering Abilities new logo and blaring its horn as it drove up behind the makeshift stage in front of a crowd of more than 250 participants, staff, board members and other supporters.  “I like it!” one participant named Ron shouted from the crowd.  The reveal announcement was held in conjunction with the Davenport Police Association’s annual Thanksgiving dinner, at which Davenport police served up a holiday meal with all the trimmings inside the Hickory Grove Road center to three shifts of HDC participants.  Before the meal, the hundreds gathered in the parking lot had a chance to assist in the high-energy event by pulling off white HDC name stickers that covered up the new white Empowering Abilities logo on their new royal blue T-shirts. Adding to the event’s excitement was a visit by Santa Claus and his elf as well as free blue cups with the new Empowering Abilities logo.  In a presentation that included a newly created promotional video, Mr. Ashcraft explained how the name change was many years in the making and how the research behind it included input from all its staff, participants, families, the HDC board and other supporters.  “Participants, families and people in the community have long recognized that the word ‘handicapped’ is outdated and it has negative connotations for the individuals we serve. Also, the word ‘center’ no longer accurately reflects what we do, because many of the supports and services are provided throughout the community, not just at a ‘center,’” he added.  After identifying the need during strategic planning five years ago, the HDC board hired MindFire Communications, in LeClaire, to assist in the rebranding process.   “This better describes the work HDC does – taking individuals and empowering them with abilities they have and not focusing on their disabilities,” Jeff Hassel, the board’s chairman, told the QCBJ before the announcement.    He also said the words ‘handicapped’ and ‘disabled’ “have gone out of style.” “It’s time (for a new name). Feedback from participants and staff overwhelmingly was that they didn’t want handicapped to be part of the name anymore,” he said. 

Rebranding reaction

Both Mr. Hassel and Carol Foster, the organization’s chief administration officer, acknowledged that changing the HDC brand – a well-established name – was a major move.  “We’re rebranding an organization that has been in the community a long time, and we want to do it right,” said Mr. Hassel, who has served on the board since 2009, the past six years as its chair.  Ms. Foster, who has worked virtually her entire adult career in various capacities at HDC, said she also worried about losing awareness of the well known identity. But after hearing stories from the families of the participants, she said, “I thought (this new name) is right.” Among those families is Linda Manders, of LeClaire, whose 47-year-old daughter Angela is a longtime HDC participant. She has received its day services and for 20 years has been an HDC resident.  “This name truly reflects what they (HDC) has been doing for years,” her mother, who also is an HDC board member, said. But when Ms. Manders first heard the new name, she said, “To be honest, I burst into tears... This is the first time somebody is focusing on a positive for those like my child Angela. For most of her life, people have focused on what she can’t do.”     An HDC participant himself, 60-year-old Rick Malles, also is thrilled with the new name. Mr. Malles, who lives in an HDC supportive living home in Bettendorf, simply said “I like it. I think the new name brings more joy to people,” he told the QCBJ. Mr. Malles, an employee in HDC’s Enterprise work program, said “A lot of people out here are independent.” While he does have a disability, he does not let it define him and believes Empowering Abilities will much better describe the work the organization does for him and others. 

Mission still intact

Mr. Ashcraft, whose own family has a long history with the Quad Cities nonprofit organization, stressed “HDC has been providing support to individuals with special needs to help them to succeed, to achieve, to grow, and to be happy for 54 years.  The name provides a renewed sense of energy and purpose, but the mission has been and always will remain the same.”   At the Davenport Police Association luncheon, participants were as excited about the name change and those festivities as they were by the annual holiday meal.  Sponsored for and staffed by police association members, the meal was catered by Jeff Thoma’s grocery, Jeff’s Market in Durant, Iowa. “This is one of the many activities we do to engage in the community and build relationships,” Davenport Police Sgt. Eric Gruenhagen, a past association president, said of the HDC holiday meal, which is a tradition more than 35 years old. Of the new Empowering Abilities name, he said “Anything that empowers and supports this community for the better is a great thing.”   

HDC history

The former HDC was incorporated in 1969 as a merger of four groups previously providing services to people with disabilities. Its services, which now will be offered by Empowering Abilities, are designed to assist persons with disabilities to develop vocational, social and personal skills as well as self-esteem, self-fulfillment and self-sufficiency.  Mr. Ashcraft said it will continue to offer an array of employment and pre-employment/activity supports to adults.  Empowering Abilities operates two residential programs, including a 60-bed facility in northwest Davenport and a supportive living program across the Quad Cities. It offers its Daily Discovery programs at its main campus on Hickory Grove Road and its Brady Street location. Its third program, Enterprise, offers 30 participants employment in a production facility.  “We are honoring our past, but respecting who we are today” with the new name, he said.