MSS Celebrates 70 Years of Service

It started 70 years ago as five couples formed a friendship in the waiting room of the old Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul. These couples became a working group who were looking to do one simple thing … improve the lives of their children.

The families were at Gillette Children’s hospital because there was a doctor there who welcomed young patients with Cerebral Palsy.

In July of that year, 1949, those five families founded the nonprofit corporation, United Cerebral Palsy of St. Paul, which is now known as MSS.

The inaugural location was a private school in the basement of the St. Paul Rehabilitation Center which served 10 children. Today, MSS has grown to six locations in the Twin Cities Metro area, supporting nearly 500 individuals.

Three years after opening its doors, two members of the organization, John Stevens and Al Erickson, both living with Cerebral Palsy, joined three other men with Cerebral Palsy and founded what is now MSS’ employment program. The men started a craft shop in St. Paul and were incorporated as Handi-Cap Inc., sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of West St. Paul, the Wards Alumni Group and the Cerebral Palsy council.

This year, the employment program at MSS has served over 175 participants in various stages of their employment journey, providing a diverse range of employment opportunities across the organization.

Some can explore what employment means to them; others are working in competitive integrated settings in the community, and many continue their fantastic work in our supported work crews at various sites throughout the Twin Cities metro area.

From the start in that hospital waiting room 70 years ago, until today, all the opportunities, programming and services MSS can provide is made possible in large part due to your incredible support. We can’t thank you enough for helping us reach this milestone and we look forward to the next 70 years!