Parc Center for Disabilities to open St. Petersburg location

The Tampa Bay area’s only nonprofit providing lifelong support for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities is ready to open a new campus in St. Petersburg this week. 

The Parc Center for Disabilities will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for its new children’s services center at 3151 73rd St. N. in St. Petersburg, according to a release. The facility is named the Tom & Mary James Children’s Services Center in honor of the local philanthropists who made a $2 million donation to Parc’s $10 million Raise the Roof capital campaign to open the center, the release says. 

To date, Parc has raised more than $8.1 million for the project, according to the organization. 

The new facility provides a permanent home for Parc’s existing preschool and early intervention programs, services that help disabled children ranging from two months to five years old. 

Transportation will be provided to and from the new center, where children will engage in physical, speech and occupational therapies, as well as receive meals and supportive care. 

“People should know that, despite the size of the community we’re in, we have a very good place for people with special needs which you can’t find everywhere,” philanthropist Tom James says in the release. “I’ve known the people with Parc for a very long time. The fact is, they have demonstrated time and time again that they’ll bend over backwards to help all the kids and adults who need services.”

The new, 14,000-square-foot children’s center features large, open rooms and is entirely ADA accessible — a far cry from the organization’s former children’s facility, which was built in the 1970s. Rooms feature large doorways, making it easy for wheelchairs and walkers to move about, along with state-of-the-art security features and an ADA accessible playground of adaptive equipment for children with any number of disabilities. 

The center is equipped with new technology designed to enhance cognitive and emotional development and also houses two of Parc’s community-based programs — early intervention services and the caregiver relief program — providing comprehensive services and support for children and their families, Parc’s leadership says. The Early Intervention Services program allows specialists to work one-on-one with children in their natural, home environments to prepare them for kindergarten. Families in the Caregiver Relief Program receive up to 20 hours a month of respite care for disabled children up to 21 years old, which helps prevent child abuse and caregiver burnout

“Seventy-three years ago, ten families refused to accept limitations for their children,” Michelle Detweiler, president and CEO of Parc, says in a release. “Since that time, Parc has been advocating for children with disabilities to grow, learn and thrive in an inclusive, caring environment. The opening of the Tom & Mary James Children’s Services Center advances our mission to ensure children with developmental disabilities receive the early intervention and support they need to grow, learn and develop to their fullest potential while strengthening the families who care for them.”

Established in 1953, the Parc Center for Disabilities also operates a 10-acre campus off 75th St. North that includes residential homes, classrooms, art studios, offices and numerous other services for both children and adults with disabilities. According to Candid, an online database of financial information for non-profit organizations, Parc Inc. brought in $29,231, 351 in revenue in the 2024 fiscal year.