Anne Carlsen Grand Opening

ANNE CARLSEN CENTER

GRAND OPENING

Anne Carlsen Center project years in the making

JAMESTOWN — The new Anne Carlsen Center campus brings to fruition a dream that began many years ago, said Tim Eissinger, CEO.

An idea to renovate the building started in the early 2000s. But as Anne Carlsen grew and became more of a statewide resource, Eissinger said it became apparent that the campus needed to modernize. It was important to ensure the nonprofit was always seen as state of the art in providing some of the most critical medical services and behavioral health services in the state of North Dakota, he said.

Eissinger credits not only the current board of directors for the new building but also those boards that came before it, saying they had “an incredible amount of courage and resolve to never let this dream fade.”

In 2013, land was first purchased for the new campus east of Jamestown Regional Medical Center. Stephanie Nelson, chief operating officer, said the first design meeting with JLG Architects began in the fall of 2019. Just months later — in March 2020 — the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Nelson said the work that went into the design while managing a global health pandemic “was truly remarkable,” and she was proud of the team and its work during that challenging time.

Eissinger said there were other unique challenges with the project including four trial designs as well as working to ensure they did not disrupt any of the wetlands on the purchased property.

Eissinger said JLG Architects and Mortenson Construction were “amazing” collaborative partners on the project.

“They came alongside us, put a lot of time and energy into understanding what we do as an organization, why we do it and how we could expect this new facility to continue to provide the highest quality of services to the young people and families we serve,” he said.

The groundbreaking was held in October 2021, and construction began in July 2022. The project was completed in February 2024, and the move to the new campus occurred in mid-March.

Nelson said through the process, Dr. Anne Carlsen wasn’t forgotten, noting it was important to build an inclusive and accessible campus. Eissinger was a

champion for accessibility, she said, moving a major staircase late in the project.

“... to make sure that when somebody walks in our front door or wheels in our front door, we didn’t want the first thing for them to see was a stairway that they couldn’t manage,” Nelson said. “And so we did an 11th-hour redesign so that the stairway is now right next to the elevator to give people a choice. That was huge.

“I think the other thing that rang through for all of us … Dr. Anne’s legacy is resilience and grit,” Nelson said, helping them weather budget and other project challenges.

“I think our courageous board and the legacy of Dr. Anne is what pushed us through,” she said.

Eissinger noted the original $41 million project cost significantly increased due to COVID, inflation and supply chain issues, ultimately to nearly $60 million. He said they were fortunate to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, securing a low interest for the project.

“... Just being in a position where we got that low-interest rate, got a 40-year term and without them, we would not have been able to realize this lifelong

dream for Anne Carlsen,” he said.

Eissinger said Anne Carlsen wanted local trades used as much as possible for the Jamestown project.

“It was just very nice for Mortenson to prioritize our ability to use as many local resources as we could because we recognized (this) as a focal point for the community and people were proud to be able to play a part in this new project in Jamestown,” Eissinger said. “... we just wanted to make sure we were giving back as a part of building this amazing facility.”

The move into the new building — a mammoth task — was accomplished in just three days. Anne Carlsen Center was assisted by North Dakota Emergency Preparedness and Response, working locally with Frank Balak from Central Valley Health District, Nelson said. The Knights of Columbus installed shelving, helped get the building ready for the move and assisted with moving expenses. Coach Bill Nelson, Bob Thoreson, and the Blue Jay football team moved most of the items from the North Campus, Eissinger said.

“I think it speaks to the wisdom of

PROJECT: Page 3

The new warm water therapy pool has a moveable depth floor ranging from 0 to 7 feet deep. Contributed photos/ Anne Carlsen Center

PROJECT

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Anne Carlsen continuing to invest in a community like Jamestown and that these are the benefits of being where we are,” he said of those who helped with the move.

Anne Carlsen Center

The new Anne Carlsen Center building is 106,000 square feet and provides a place for 34 children to live.

“The new facility is very much designed to meet the needs of some of North Dakota’s most vulnerable children and young adults,” Nelson said.

Few administrative offices or large conference rooms are at the new campus, Nelson said. As they worked to stay within budget for the project, they prioritized services for the children they serve first, she said.

“... when the price escalated, the management team and the board of directors together said, ‘We have to prioritize the critical features to most effectively serve the individuals we work with,’ and so that was the priority,” Eissinger said. “It wasn’t about having a large executive suite. It was, let’s get a functional space for a few key leaders that should be in that space and the rest can stay on the existing campus.”

He said the team did not see that as a sacrifice but rather essential and the right thing to do.

Anne Carlsen Center uses an integrated services delivery model that includes residential programming, a fully accredited school and a specialized therapy program, Nelson said. The integration of services provides strong outcomes for many of the children served by Anne Carlsen, coordinated by its team approach to provide consistent programming and care, she said.

“We’ve had children as young as 6 to 9 months that are coming to us. We’ve had some that come to us from the NICU all the way to adulthood, but our focus is that pediatric school-age population with graduation once they have completed their educational program,” Nelson said.

Anne Carlsen Center has a nursing team to provide those services, a respiratory therapy team, nurse practitioner and medical director (Dr. Myra Quanrud), Nelson noted. A team of direct support professionals carries out ACC’s mission every day directly to the people they serve, she said.

Eissinger and Nelson noted the employees are key to its mission.

“It’s incredibly exciting for us to have this new building, but the foundation on which the program’s been built has been the quality of the people that work in this organization,” Eissinger said. “ … that’s where the power of the program truly comes from.”

There are currently 337 employees in

Jamestown, and Nelson said the retention rate for them is strong. Anne Carlsen Center has had employees with 30, 40 and 50 years of service, she said.

“And that’s what makes for the best outcomes for the people we serve is that consistency and relationships,” Nelson said. “That’s how we exist.”

Education and Therapies

The Anne Carlsen Center has a fully accredited school but how students are educated may look different from one student to another.

“The individuals that live here don’t necessarily go to our school,” she said. “We individualize their education program. So that might mean that they go to our school. Or it might mean that they go to our school part of the day and go to Jamestown Public Schools part of the day. Or they might go to one class. But we tailor it to what their needs are. Then we also have students that come from the community to go to our school or from surrounding communities.”

Nelson said there are 60 to 65 students in ACC’s school, which has special education and other teachers, along with direct support professionals who are also in the classroom.

“We’re a little different than a public school setting,” she said. “We organize classrooms by grade bands, but we also try to put similar abilities and needs together so that we can really focus on individualizing the educational program for each student that’s here.”

School at the North Campus — the name for the former Anne Carlsen Center facility — is tailored to clients working on a higher level of independence but there are also day students attending classes at both sites who don’t live at Anne Carlsen Center.

Physical, occupational and speech therapies are provided by a team of 25 to 30 therapy staff at the Anne Carlsen Center.

“All of our therapists are specialized in pediatrics and to the populations that we serve where we see a little more acuity or need — a lot of diagnoses that you wouldn’t see in a typical clinic,” Nelson said. “With the nature of the population we serve, they become very specialized.”

She said to find that kind of specialty, people would have to travel out of state.

Anne Carlsen Center is unique in that it has a moveable floor warm water therapy pool, an item that was questioned through the budget process during several designs of the facility. The North Campus also has that type of pool. The team felt the pool should not be cut from the budget for the new facility; Eissinger said it was “critical” to keep the 20-by-40-foot pool.

“We built the same model that we have here (at the North Campus),” Nelson said.

The new residential space features 34 private rooms specifically designed to meet the needs of the individuals served at Anne

SANFORD HEALTH CONGRATULATES

ANNE CARLSON CENTER ON ITS BEAUTIFUL NEW FACILTY AND WE WISH YOU CONTINUED SUCCESS IN THE FUTURE!

Carlsen.

FACILITY

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The pool was very challenging for the design and the construction team, she said.

Children who use the pool can walk or wheel onto the floor and then the floor will lower to whatever depth is safe for them to participate comfortably in the therapeutic activity they would be involved in, Eissinger said.

Anne Carlsen Center provides therapy services not only for its residents but others as well.

“We serve about 350 community members through our therapy program in addition to the children that reside and go to school at Anne Carlsen,” Nelson said. “We do quite a bit of outreach also in partnering with local schools as we contract therapy services that way as well.”

Anne Carlsen recently opened a satellite clinic in Valley City for its therapy program, Nelson added.

Recreation is a strong program at Anne Carlsen Center as well, Nelson said, with art programs that have included the community, music and clubs including Girl Scouts and Gaming Club.

“With our new campus, we were really intentional in having it be more open to

the public and so I think from a recreation perspective you can expect that we’ll be a lot more involved with the community than we’ve been able to at the existing space,” Nelson said. “So, we’re pretty excited about that.”

Technology a key component

Nelson said Anne Carlsen has a strong focus on technology in its therapy and programming, specifically in how it can be utilized to help people be more independent.

“Anne Carlsen is unique and it’s one of the only providers in North Dakota that I know of that has their own ideation center and dedicated staff to test new assistive and adaptive technologies,” Eissinger said. “... innovations are coming out each and every day and we are fortunate to have a dedicated team researching these new innovations.”

He said Anne Carlsen Center can be a test bed for innovative practices and can implement them in ways that help foster greater independence.

Eissinger noted that like many employers, the workforce is a challenge for Anne Carlsen Center too. He said technology provides opportunities to help supplement areas in the workforce that need it.

“... I think every provider in this day and age has to look at technology as a unique

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Congratulations Anne Carlsen Center on your awesome new facility and campus!

Anne Carlsen Center’s indoor sensory gym and playground helps to develop sensory, communication and motor skills.

TECHNOLOGY

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resource,” he said. “It’ll never replace the care and kindness that comes directly from the Anne Carlsen staff but having the ability to supplement it with something that can extend that amazing talent is really an important opportunity for everyone to evaluate and invest in.”

North Campus

The North Campus, the former ACC site, is being used for school, some administrative offices and large classroom training for employees, Nelson said.

There are three eight-bed cottages on the former main campus as well. The cottages provide a place to live for a pediatric population that may not have the same intensive support needs as the individuals served in the new building, Eissinger said.

People who live in the cottages are in a transition stage, Nelson said.

“Our goal with the cottages is preparing students to be ready for the next phase of their life,” she said. “… whether that’s transitioning back to their home community or back to their home with their family … or it might be to a different place that will support their residential needs.”

Anne Carlsen has built a new curriculum for those clients, she added, one the teaching staff is “really excited about” that is more focused on more functional

independent living skills and community access.

Eissinger said they are working with Anne Carlsen’s board of directors to evaluate viable options for the future use of the North Campus facility.

“We’ve just made a very concerted effort to reduce the footprint here (at the North Campus),” he said. “We understood fairly early the impact of having to manage two facilities and all the overhead associated with it would be costly.”

Needs remain

Nelson said efforts are still ongoing to support needs for the new facility. The highest priorities are adding more laundry space to the building and a shop for outdoor equipment.

Currently, laundry is being done at the North Campus and being taken to the new facility. While laundry is also being done at the new site, more space is needed, she said.

Fleet vehicles are another priority.

“It’s a lot more transportation,” she said. “We’ve really found that it takes a lot more fleet vehicles with dual operations between the two campuses.”

The future

While Phase 2 is in the future for Anne Carlsen Center, it’s too early to say exactly what those plans are, Eissinger said.

“It’s just a prudent time to click pause, take a breath, reevaluate all we’ve

LEGACY: Page 7

With our new campus, we were really intentional in having it be more open to the public and so I think from a recreation perspective you can expect that we’ll be a lot more involved with the community than we’ve been able to at the existing space. So, we’re pretty excited about that.

Stephanie Nelson, chief operating officer

Anne Carlsen’s life an inspiration to others

Dr. Anne Carlsen’s life story is an inspiration for anyone who has ever had a physical disability or who has known someone with a physical impairment. Her triumph over her own physical handicap to become a world-reknowned disabilities advocate has inspired countless people.

During her 60-year career, she received numerous awards and honors but her greatest satisfactions as an educator and mentor, she said in a 1981 interview, are the graduates of the school.

“It’s gratifying to see those who’ve become successful by universal standards, as teachers, physicists, homemakers and in other professions. But others whose handicaps are so severe that they can’t be employed are successes, too,” she said. “If they do the best they can and contribute whatever they’re able, they’re really doing as well or better in life than most nonhandicapped people.”

Anne Carlsen was born in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, on Nov. 4, 1915, without forearms and lower legs. Her parents, four brothers, and older sister nurtured her and as she grew it was quickly apparent that her mind was keen and she used every opportunity to educate herself. Her family was her biggest advocate, doing all they could to encourage her education.

Her father told her, “Anne, two arms and two legs missing aren’t as important as one head that’s present. The best way to make that head help is to get it educated.”

And educate, she did.

She learned to swim, play baseball and every other game her friends played. She walked or ran with the help of her kiddie car. She learned to attend

to all sorts of tasks by using her arm stubs including writing and feeding herself. As an adult, she learned to drive a car. In 1964, she took a carload of daring friends to the World’s Fair in New York City.

Once she started her formal schooling at age 8, she breezed through, often completing two grade levels in one year.

“My brothers would carry me to and from school. When there was snow on the ground, they would strap me to a sled and pull me to school,” she said. “I had tremendous support from my family and friends.”

She graduated from eighth grade at age 12 and despite a long hospitalization for surgery and therapy while in high school, she graduated from St. Paul Luther Academy at age 16. It was after this that Anne learned to use artificial legs.

With a burning desire to become a teacher, she went on to college, graduating cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1936. Despite her excellent references and transcript, she had difficulty getting a job during the Depression era and encountered discrimination along the way. An avid reader and writer for a short time, she considered pursuing a journalism career.

Instead, she accepted a job in 1938 at Fargo’s Good Samaritan School for Crippled Children, which moved to Jamestown in 1941.

“I bought myself a new dress and hat and a Greyhound bus ticket and headed west to Fargo. I had never been to North Dakota. I was offered $25 a month, plus room and board. I thought I was at the peak of my career,” she said.

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CONGRATULATIONS ANNE CARLSEN CENTER

We are honored and proud to have been part of the construction of your new campus and facility and we wish you continued success in the future!

Dr. Anne Carlsen, born with a significant disability, was determined to live life to the fullest.

Contributed photos / Anne Carlsen Center

accomplished and assess what we yet need to do,” he said.

Eissinger noted Anne Carlsen was always committed to building its new facility in Jamestown.

“We love how it’s centrally located,” he said. “We love the legacy of Dr. Anne here; we love the commitment by the community to what we do ... commitment to the programs and staff and so welcoming and accepting of the amazing individuals and families we serve. “

He said Anne Carlsen remains committed to being in other communities and offering home and community-based care as an extension of the services provided in Jamestown.

“... the ability to use this new facility, the visibility it has to function as our corporate hub and support our home and community-based services across the state, that’s truly what our goal and ambition is at this point,” Eissinger said.

He said they want to be careful and strategic in assessing where they should next invest their resources.

“And we also certainly want to be good stewards of the many gifts from our amazing donors and supporters from across the state who have really stepped up and made this dream a reality and

have shared with us that they want to be a part of any future initiatives as well,” he added.

Sharing both sites during celebration

Eissinger said many people are expect ed to attend the grand opening of the new Anne Carlsen Center campus on June 6 in Jamestown, where a new logo for Anne Carlsen will be unveiled.

Tours will also be available at the North Campus, he said.

“The North Campus is in one of the most beautiful parts of Jamestown, but it also is a bit hidden away as well,” Eissinger said of the original campus.

“It’s one of the reasons that we did pur chase property on Interstate 94 as Dr. Anne would never have said go and live out your life quietly ... she’d have said, ‘Hey, everyone brings gifts and talents to share, and we can all be proud of that. We’re going to be bold and we’re going to make a difference.’”

They are making a public statement about the new campus, he said.

“We’re here,” he said. “The people we serve are important citizens of the state of North Dakota. They add so many things to the lives of the people around them and they add so much to the qual ity of life here in the state of North Dakota. And we’re just proud to support them, advocate for them, help them be their best selves and let their voices be heard in the world.”

Anne Carlsen Center holding celebration of new facility on June 6

The celebration of the new Anne Carlsen Ballantyne Berg Campus in Jamestown is planned from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, June 6, at 2200 20th St. SW, Jamestown. The public is invited to attend this event. The schedule of events:

11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Food trucks offering treats Noon: Program highlighting the significance of the new campus, followed by a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.

1 to 4 p.m.: Guided tours of the campus, live music, games and more.

CONGRATULATIONS ANNE CARLSEN CENTER

Milestones in the history of Anne Carlsen Center

Born without forearms or lower legs, Dr. Anne Carlsen refused to let her physical impairments prevent her from living life to its fullest. She served as teacher, administrator and mentor for the Anne Carlsen Center, touching many lives with her compassion, courage and determination. Her spirit of hope lives on today as it remains dedicated to “Nurturing abilities. Changing lives.”

The following is a timeline of key events and milestones that have taken place in Anne Carlsen’s 75 years of service and growth.

1938: Rev. W.B. Schoenbohm joined the Good Samaritan Society as superintendent of the Crippled Children School. Anne Carlsen, from Grantsburg, Wisconsin, joined the staff as a high school teacher.

1940: Lutheran Hospitals and Homes Society purchased the Crippled Children’s

School and moved it to Jamestown, N.D. Construction began in the fall at Horseshoe Park on 6 acres purchased for $450.

1941: Despite inclement weather, nearly 1,000 people gathered Sept. 21 to help dedicate the new school. The original building cost $58,000 to construct and was paid for entirely with private donations. It opened its doors to 18 students on Sept. 22. The school included two modern classrooms, a craft room, library, therapy room, dining hall, recreation room and dormitory for 35 children.

1946: Anne Carlsen earned her master’s degree in education from Colorado State University in Greeley.

1949: Anne Carlsen completed the doctoral program at University of Minnesota and was named child guidance director of the school.

1950: Dr. Anne Carlsen was named superintendent after Rev. W.B.

Schoenbohm resigned to take a new position in Iowa.

1958: A Ford Foundation grant for $33,200 and Hill-Burton Funds approved by the N.D. State Health Planning Commission provided money for construction of the industrial arts department, homemaking department, and new kitchen and dining room facilities.

Dr. Anne Carlsen received the President’s Trophy as Handicapped American of the Year. The award is given annually to the person who has helped to advance the cause of the employment of the physically disabled.

1965: A new heating plant, physical therapy department and speech therapy department with a special classroom for the hearing impaired were added.

1966: North Dakota Gov. William Guy honored Dr. Anne Carlsen with North Dakota’s highest honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Roughrider Award. The award is given to people who have brought credit to the state by achieving national recognition in their fields of endeavor.

1971: The Crippled Children’s School dedicated a new modular dormitory designed to house 32 students.

1975: Dr. Anne Carlsen was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame at Fullerton (California) College.

1976: A second modular dormitory was added.

1980: The name of the school was changed to Anne Carlsen School, in honor of Dr. Anne Carlsen who had served as teacher, principal and administrator for more than four decades.

1981: Dr. Anne Carlsen retired from her administrative position and took a part-time consulting job with the school. She continued to maintain office hours and serve as a consultant and mentor to staff and students.

Dr. Anne Carlsen received the W. Clement Stone Foundation Endow-a-Dream Award, given each year to honor an individual who has used a positive mental attitude to overcome adversity and make contributions to the betterment of humanity.

1983: An extensive remodeling project updated the staff and student dining areas, hallways and one dormitory.

President Ronald Reagan appointed Dr. Anne Carlsen vice chair of the President’s Committee on Employing the Handicapped.

1984: The focus of the center’s programs expanded to include young people with multiple disabilities.

1985: The therapeutic swimming pool was completed.

MILESTONES: Page 10

CONGRATULATIONS

An aerial of the Anne Carlsen Center site now known as the North Campus.

Anne Carlsen Center

[Good Samaritan School for Crippled Children] was built on love and operated on faith. It provides children with empowerment. Empowerment is going from dependence to independence.

Anne Carlsen

CARLSEN

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After the school moved to Jamestown, Anne Carlsen spent four summers at the University of Colorado in Greeley completing her master’s degree. She then took a leave of absence from the school to complete her doctorate in education at the University of Minnesota. She returned to Jamestown and became the school’s principal and was named its administrator in 1950.

She held the position until her retirement in 1981. She then served as a consultant to the school and a mentor to its students.

“It was built on love and operated on faith,” she said of the school. “It provides children with empowerment. Empowerment is going from dependence to independence.”

Throughout her career, Dr. Anne Carlsen was propelled to national prominence as a disabilities advocate. In 1958, she received the prestigious President’s Trophy as Handicapped American of the Year, an award presented annually by the President’s Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped.

“I was so thrilled when I received the (award). Richard Nixon (then vice president) put his arm around me and said ‘Dr. Anne, would you like to go into politics?’ I looked at him and said, ‘Maybe, someday.’”

She said, “Getting a job is the most desired goal for many handicapped people. An individual with a disability can’t be ruled out of a job just because of their disability.”

Dr. Anne Carlsen’s work with the Anne Carlsen Center was a labor of love. She kept in touch with many of the students who graduated from the school. After she retired, she kept an office at the center, corresponding with former students, family and friends.

In 1985, the center made Carlsen a lifetime fixture when a bronze statue of her with a young child was dedicated at the center’s front entrance.

Her strong national voice helped propel efforts through the years to advance the status of individuals with physical and developmental disabilities.

“Handicapped children and adults are no longer second-class citizens,” she said in a 1979 book “Dr. Anne” (Augsburg Publishing House). “If I have helped in any way to bring this about, then my work here at Jamestown has had a purpose.” She passed away on Dec. 2, 2002.

Dr. Anne Carlsen.

MILESTONES

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A statue of Dr. Anne Carlsen and a child was dedicated at the front entrance of the school.

1986: The school’s program was expanded to include services and placement for children with autism.

1990: The Advanced Care Unit opened, providing state-of-the-art medical care and skilled personnel for medically complex youngsters.

Dr. Anne Carlsen received the L.B. Hartz Professional Achievement Award from Moorhead (Minnesota) State University and the Judge Henry and Helen T. Graven Award for Outstanding Christian Lay Work from Wartburg College, Waverly, Ohio.

1992: The school’s education services received accreditation as an elementary school from the prestigious accrediting agency, North Central Association.

Dr. Anne Carlsen was chosen as one of 22 North Dakotans to serve on Gov.-elect Ed Schafer’s transition team and she was named Psychologist of the Year by the North Dakota Psychological Association.

1993: The name of the school was changed to Anne Carlsen Center for Children to better reflect its broader scope of services.

1995: Dr. Anne Carlsen and the center celebrated her 80th birthday.

The center began a five-year renovation project to enable it to better meet the needs of its children.

2000: The center’s parent company, Lutheran Health Systems, purchased Samaritan Health System of Phoenix, Arizona, to create Banner Health System.

2001: The center celebrated its 60th anniversary.

The Council on Quality and Leadership in Supports for People with Disabilities gave the center its highest accreditation rating.

2002: Dr. Anne Carlsen passed away on Dec. 22. Her birthdate, Nov. 4, is celebrated each year.

2003: On July 1, the center became an independently-owned organization operated by a non-profit governing board of directors.

Construction began on a residential expansion and remodeling, adding three residential cottages to the campus and remodeling the existing dorm area, increasing the Advanced Care Unit from six to 16 beds.

2004: The gardening program is created at the center, allowing students to grow their own vegetables and fruits. Students also produce and market homemade salsa. Winter and fall cottages become operational.

2005: Summer cottage was completed and operational.

2008: The name of the center is changed to the Anne Carlsen Center to better reflect the wide variety of ages

the center serves.

The Solarium project is completed through the generosity of ACC donors, expanding the garden program yearround.

Dr. Anne Carlsen’s legacy is celebrated in ACC’s new logo, incorporating her signature and a redesigned butterfly.

ACC opens a Community Services office in Grand Forks and begins providing in-home supports and personal and community (day) supports to individuals and families in northeast North Dakota.

2009: From March 23-June 11, the center is evacuated from its Jamestown campus for 81 days due to the threat of overland and river flooding. Students and staff stay at a number of locations throughout Jamestown. The community of Jamestown and Anne Carlsen employeesrespond heroically to meet the challenge.

ACC launches the “Accessing the Artist Within” project to encourage the use of assistive technology in the creation of art, music or video.

2010: ACC initiates management of four offices (Fargo, Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Jamestown) in the state’s KIDS Infant Development or Early Intervention Program.

2011: Community-based autism services are initiated.

70th anniversary of the Anne Carlsen Center.

2012: Community-Based Service Office in Fargo, Jamestown and Bismarck opened offering day, in-home supports and autism services

2012: ACC receives recognition as an Apple Distinguished School

2012: Therapy Canine Program with Champ, a service dog, is initiated.

2013: ACC assumes management of Annie’s House at the Bottineau Winter Park to accommodate the needs of skiers with physical and cognitive disabilities and began developing Annie’s House into an all season’s recreation, education and arts program.

2014: Community-Based Service Office in Minot opened offering autism services

2016: 75th anniversary of the Anne Carlsen Center

2016-2018: Anne Carlsen operates a child care named Bright Beginnings Learning Center in Jamestown

2017: The Fargo therapy program is launched.

Learn’n Move Childcare opens in Fargo – a joint venture between Anne Carlsen and TNT Kid’s Fitness

2018: Taylor Made Living opens

2020: Bismarck/Minot therapy program started with occupational therapy

2024: Move In: The new Anne Carlsen Center Ballantyne Berg Campus opens.

2024: Rebranded Anne Carlsen: Anne Carlsen completes a rebrand that includes new messaging and a new logo.

CONGRATULATIONS ANNE CARLSEN CENTER

Dr. Anne Carlsen

Contributed / Anne Carlsen Center

Ask and receive

An early challenge for Lutheran Hospitals and Homes Society was finding a new location for the Good Samaritan Crippled Children’s School after the city of Fargo condemned the building in 1939.

The minutes of the December 1939 Governing Board meeting shed light on what was ahead: “All changes are insignificant to a change that will soon take place, namely the relocation of the school…the only logical thing to do would be to attempt to erect a new, thoroughly modern school building.”

An LHHS board member, Dr. W.W.A. Keller of Jamestown, N.D., worked tirelessly to find the best spot and found it in Jamestown at a horseshoe bend in the picturesque James River. The Society purchased the six-acre plot from the Northern Pacific Railway Company for $450. The site was dedicated on May 16, 1940, and named the Crippled Children’s School.

But there was as yet no money to pay for the building. Rev. Wilko Schoenbohm, the school’s superintendent, and Dr. Keller were on the road every day securing pledges, in whatever form they could get it – cash, wheat, one acre of land and even some hogs. People gave what they could, but the Dakotas had just experienced a severe drought and cash was still scarce.

By August, LHHS leaders had spent $3,800 on the facility, and all they had to

show for it was the land and a printing press purchased from the Good Samaritan Society. Rev. Schoenbohm set up the printing press in his garage and began a mail campaign that raised $20,000. But then the campaign lagged.

Dr. Keller and Revf. Schoenbohm traveled to Minneapolis in the hope that some of those who had given small donations to the school might be able to loan larger sums for construction. “The first daily we called on had just sold their business and said that our visit was a Godsend,” Dr. Keller said. “They had been thinking about giving a part of their money to some Christian work, and they gave us a low-interest loan fo $20,000. They were waiting to do something like this…[and did it] against the advice of their banker.”

With that money, the board felt secure in sighing a final contract for $40,795 for the original building, large enough for living quarters and a school for 35 children. Rain did not prevent more than 1,000 drought-weary North Dakotans from attending the op-en-air dedication fo the new school on Sept. 21, 1941. When 18 students appeared for classes the next day, 11 staff members, some of the best prepared in the nation, and their leader, Rev. Schoenbohm, were ready for them.

— LHS archives, Hiram Drache

A statue of Dr. Anne Carlsen with a young child was dedicated in 1985 and was placed at the Anne Carlsen Center’s front entrance. Contributed / Anne Carlsen Center