The clinic’s first incarnation as the Kanawha Society for Crippled Children was organized in 1934. In 1937 the Society opened the first outpatient physical therapy clinic in West Virginia. In 1987, the Children’s Therapy Clinic moved into a larger building at Chesterfield Avenue. The clinic served children from 12 counties and treated all children regardless of their ability to pay. From 1996 to 1998 the clinic partnered with Shawnee Hills to provide therapy services as we continued our advocacy and fund-raising work.

In 2000, after the dissolution of Shawnee Hills, the clinic hired Ryan, McGinn, Samples Research group to assess the community’s needs for therapy services. Their findings were dramatic- of the 228 families surveyed, 28% were not receiving the therapy they needed. The two primary reasons for this were a lack of therapists and insufficient insurance or money for therapy. The study also found more than 917 children in Kanawha County alone who needed some form of therapy. Over 250 of these children were not receiving the therapy they needed.

Given the tremendous need for children’s therapy services, the CTC board of directors decided to reopen the clinic. Because it has become increasingly difficult to bill Medicaid and commercial insurance for children with chronic disabling conditions, CTC was reopened as a free clinic in April 2001. We are currently located in Bream Memorial Church on Washington Street on the west side of Charleston. CTC receives funding from United Way, the City of Charleston, and various local foundations as well as individual donors to raise money for therapy services. During 2005 we provided services to over 350 children in Kanawha and surrounding counties.