History of the Sunshine Center

Sunshine Center, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1953 by a group of parents whose children had Downs Syndrome. Sunshine was first established as Oleander School, a private elementary school offering learning opportunities for children with developmental disabilities who were being excluded from public schooling. As parents continued to fight for their children's rights and legislation was passed in the 1970’s to include these students in the public school system, Sunshine accordingly became an off-campus facility serving students with special needs within the Galveston Independent School District. To reflect this change, we underwent our first name change to Sunshine Training Center. 1980's legislation mainstreamed these children onto traditional campuses, so we reevaluated the needs in the community and once again adapted to meet them. Under the name of Sunshine Supportive Employment, we became a vocational center providing sheltered workshops and employment services to students after graduation from high school. Sunshine developed programs throughout the 1990’s and into the 21st century to increase the independence of adults with developmental disabilities, enhancing our programming with therapeutic components and community access, resulting in our latest name change: Sunshine Center, Inc. Current programs assist individuals with developing and maintaining educational, vocational, social, and life skills that allow them to lead a happy and fulfilling life. We also provide support services and education for their family members. We are proud of our history in this community of providing comprehensive care and quality programming for individuals with developmental disabilities.