At approximately 8:00 p.m. on December 15, 1970, at 781 E. Crestview Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona, at the residence of Dr. Kenneth A. Harrison, a meeting was held to write the Articles of Incorporation and elect a Board of Directors for the control and management of the affairs of the new non-profit, private corporation called the Hozhoni Foundation for the Handicapped, Inc. The original board of Directors consisted of:
| Irvy W. Goossen | Andrew L. Wolf |
| Dr. Kenneth A. Harrison | Dr. Gilbert Sechrist |
| Don F. Brakeman | Dr. Craig Sidles |
| Dr. Robert A. Orosz | William H. Coston |
At this meeting the board decided that the location of its principle place of business shall be at Flagstaff, Arizona, but it may establish other places of business and other offices at such other places, either within or without the State of Arizona, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine.
They further state that the objectives and purposes of the Board would be:
"To operate exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes in such a manner as the Board of Directors may deem best, with primary interest in the problems of the developmentally handicapped."
Since that time, Hozhoni has continued to grow and meet the needs (vocationally, residentially and through family support) of children and adults in Northern Arizona who have developmental disabilities. There are few agencies, private or public, in Arizona or the western United States that offer as comprehensive a continuum of community services as the Hozhoni Foundation currently operates.
As volunteer and other advocacy groups, such as the Arizona Association for Retarded Citizens began to raise issues in relation to the quality and dignity of care provided to those developmentally disabled individuals who have been institutionalized, changes began to occur rapidly.
Eventually, a lawsuit was brought against the State of Arizona asking for the Bureau of Mental Retardation to significantly reduce the overcrowded state institutions and, where possible, return these special citizens to their homes or as close to home as possible.
Since many families would not (or could not) accept their children back into their homes, due to emotional, social, economic or related problems, alternate community housing and programming was needed.
Hozhoni recognizes that, for some parents, coping with the constant care and attention required by a severely developmentally disabled child is beyond their capacity. Many professionals believe that families, who manage to deal effectively with lifešs typical stresses, usually learn to accept parenting of a disabled child. But no one is certain why some parents with mildly disabled children seek institutionalization and other parents make every sacrifice imaginable to maintain a profoundly disabled, bed-ridden child in the home.
Hozhoni maintains the strong belief that, for whatever reason, some parents choose not to keep their developmentally disabled child in their home. We will not pass judgement or condemn them but, rather, we will strive to help these special citizens remain in their own community.
As people with developmental disabilities began returning to the community, it was soon realized that, for many, there existed no day programming. To allow these individuals to remain in the group home all day without any opportunities to develop additional skills would have only created "mini institution"˛ within the community. Since many of the returning citizens with a developmental disability were severely challenged with multiple disabilities, existing community educational and vocational services were not accustomed to or programmatically equipped to deal with the needs. As a result, Hozhoni began developing the necessary academic and work related services to provide 5-day-a-week day programming for those residents living in its community living arrangements.
© 2001 Hozhoni Foundation, Inc.
