Back in the 1960s, a group of parents that had children with disabilities joined together and started a school for their children called the Hi-Point Day School (later named Ludlow Center, after a contest held in the community). As these children grew into adults, some went to work in the community, but not all. These families and community members banded together and created a sheltered workshop overseen by a nonprofit board called Hi Point Training Center. Later renamed Ross Training Center, after one of the founding sets of parents, Bernard & Grace Ross, the name was gradually shortened to RTC Industries and has continued to grow since its inception. In the 1990s, RTC began offering opportunities on a large scale for individuals with disabilities to become employed in our community. This has expanded to now include specialty programs for adults with mental health and drug addiction issues and a program to prepare high school students who have disabilities for the world of work.
In 2008, RTC started providing transportation for adults with disabilities to get to and from their community jobs. This eventually led to RTC taking on the public transit service for Logan County in 2014, which is what they are most well-known for, as everyone sees the 28 vehicles all over the county! The transportation service is open to all residents and guests of Logan County – you do not have to have a disability or be a certain age to utilize the service. Services are open Monday through Friday, from 5:30 am to 10 pm. Last year, RTC provided 55,785 trips for the community.
Over the years, RTC has been able to add new day program options for individuals with disabilities. Day programs provide services to help with vocational habilitation, adult day support, and community engagement. They still offer a production training program, along with programs to work on skill building for the community and independent living, along with an art studio program. Employment services include finding community jobs, on-the-job support, and transition youth services. With the addition of these new services and to better accommodate the varying community services offered, the company was rebranded to RTC Services in 2018.
In April, RTC received a three-year (highest) CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) Accreditation and also received a three-year (highest) certification from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities in June. This past spring, the transportation department received three-year certifications from ODOT for the transportation and drug and alcohol programs. Because of all the wonderful ways RTC is helping our community, they were recognized as the Logan County Chamber of Commerce Non-Profit of the Year in 2019. RTC is a unique non-profit due to the variety of services they provide – in many counties, the services they provide would be divided among multiple agencies, but they feel by offering them all under one organization, RTC staff can more adequately and efficiently serve the needs of those they support. They are also very invested in Logan County. Their Chamber membership helps provide them with opportunities to stay active and connected in the community while helping to bring another voice to the populations they serve into the public workspace.
RTC is excited about growth opportunities, and they are hoping to begin two building renovations next year that will better help serve current programs and possibly provide opportunities for new future programs. They are also currently hiring support specialists and drivers. Support specialists are direct care staff who work with individuals in the day programs, and drivers help transport individuals to work, medical appointments, the grocery store, etc.
To get in contact with RTC Services, you can call them at (937) 592-0534 or go to their website at www.rtcservices.org .
