Latest News
50 For 50 #8: The Kursban Center
This is the eighth in a continuing series of stories--one every day for 50 days--to conclude IKRON's year-long celebration of our 50th anniversary. Missed one? No problem! See the entire series on our news page here.
While IKRON was getting its start as the UC Rehabilitation Center, Dr. Scott Myers served on the Board of Directors of the Hamilton County Association for Slow Learners (HCASL). Dr. Nathan Kursban, one of HCASL’s founders, wanted Cincinnati to have a community-based service to provide daily living and vocational training for adults diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. Dr. Kursban did not live to see his dream fulfilled, but following his passing, HCASL’s board asked Dr. Scott to make Dr. Kursban’s dream a reality.
Dr. Scott found a vacant first-floor apartment, developed a five-day weekly curriculum, and met with the local Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation counselors to establish this new program. The facility was named The Kursban Center to honor its visionary, where participants learned the skills and behaviors necessary to obtain and retain jobs in the community.
IKRON and the Kursban Center both grew rapidly over the next four years, and when both organizations started searching for larger facilities, they decided to affiliate and share a space. Thanks to outside funding and fees for some services, both organizations were almost entirely self-sufficient by the mid-70s.
In the early 80s, the Kursban Center and what was then UC Rehabilitation Center would merge entirely to form the new IKRON, where we're still carrying out Dr. Kursban's dream of vocational training for adults, many of whom find and keep jobs as a result of the skills and support they find at IKRON.