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1943 — the Allen County Society for Crippled Children becomes Turnstone
Founding: Turnstone was founded in 1943 as the Allen County Society for Crippled Children, formed — in its own history's words — to continue the bedside-teaching programs then being eliminated by the Junior League, for children whose disabilities kept them out of ordinary classrooms. In 1947 the Hanna Homestead School for children with physical disabilities opened. When Fort Wayne Community Schools took over Hanna Homestead in 1958 and opened Brentwood School, the society's work shifted to the preschool line: in 1962 property at 2722 Fairfield Avenue was bought with a 20,000-dollar gift and the preschool found a permanent home.
Course: A homebound therapy program for adults began in 1973, an adult day program in 1977, and in 1985–86 the agency relocated to 3320 North Clinton Street, its home since. In 1989 the Allen County Society for Crippled Children and Adults took its present name, Turnstone Center for Disabled Children and Adults — for the ruddy turnstone, a shorebird that moves stones too heavy for one bird by gathering others to help. A therapeutic sports program began in 1996; the region's first accessible fitness center followed in 2004.
The athletic century: Turnstone became a designated Paralympic Sport Club in 2009, home of the USA men's goalball team from 2015 and the women's from 2017, and opened the 125,000-square-foot Plassman Athletic Center in September 2015. In May 2018 it became one of eleven official training sites in the Olympic family, and in July 2019 it co-hosted the International Blind Sports Federation's goalball and blind-judo qualifier — described in its own history as the city of Fort Wayne's largest international event to that date, 700 guests from over 40 countries. Its consolidated financial statements describe a reach of more than 4,600 individuals annually in 2025 (3,600-plus in 2018 reporting).
Sources:
- Turnstone, "Our History" (turnstone.org) — 1943 founding, Hanna Homestead 1947, the 1958 FWCS assumption, the 1962 Fairfield purchase, the 1989 renaming and its reason, the Clinton Street move, the goalball and Plassman milestones.
- Business People magazine (October 2018) — Paralympic training-site status, 3,600 served annually.
- Turnstone consolidated financial statements, 2025 — more than 4,600 individuals annually.