Agency serving those with disabilities plans open house to celebrate name changes

By Janet Heim
Reprinted with permission of The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, MD and the author

After nearly 18 years operating as Anita Lynne Home, Inc., a co-ministry of Melmark Home, Inc., the Hagerstown agency that has been serving individuals with developmental disabilities since 1970 is going solo.

"This was a decision of the Board of Directors who wanted the opportunity for more autonomy," said Sharon Landis, executive director. "They had a vision for Anita Lynne that was different from the parent company."

It presented the opportunity for a new look, a new logo and a new name as well. Anita Lynne Home will now be known as Star Community, Inc.

"The name more accurately describes who we are," Landis said. "We're moving away from the concept of the caregiving mentality to encouraging independence and fostering challenges."

The agency was founded in 1970 by Richard and Audrey Tebbs whose third child, Anita Lynne, was born with profound disabilities. Not wanting to place her in an institution as was customary at the time, they opened a home with a Christian environment that would provide intensive one-on-one training by a staff skilled in teaching mentally retarded children.

They retired in 1985 and turned over management of the facility to Melmark, of Berwyn, PA. The Tebbses have given their blessing on the name change, realizing it's a positive change, Landis said.

The Hagerstown facility, off Broadfording Church Road, features six separate residences and is licensed for 35 adults with developmental disabilities. The 140-acre property includes a work center, an indoor therapeutic swimming pool, a nature trail, an on-site health care center, picnic areas, pavilion, a stocked pond with a wheelchair accessible fishing dock and a therapeutic horseback riding center.

For more information, call 301-791-0011. It is located at 13757 Broadfording Church Road, Hagerstown.