Grant’s uncle Glen was mentally and physically disabled and while he was staying with his grandparents, he not only had exposure to his uncle, but also to a friend of the family who had cerebral palsy.
“My grandmother’s friend Thelma adopted Roger before she knew he had CP,” Grant said. “He eventually learned how to walk because of Thelma even though everyone said she should take him back to the orphanage.”
Between his grandmother’s example and Thelma’s stoic devotion to her adopted son, Grant learned how working to help people with differences and disabilities can truly make a difference.
“I learned that I could be friends with many different people, and that they had the same interests and emotions,” Grant said.
Because Grant’s uncle spent time both in and out of the state mental hospital in Cincinnati, he also learned more about the darker side of mental health institutions and treatment.
“They used a lot of chemical restraints in those days and intense levels of medication,” Grant said. “People with disabilities were warehoused.”
After graduating from high school, Grant wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next, but he knew he wanted to make a change in the world.
“It was 1974 and there were a lot of protests going on,” Grant said. “I wanted to get into law and politics.”
In 1975, he started college at the University of Cincinnati but after one year of pre-law, he decided to switch to special education.
“I got married at 19 and my wife was already out of college and working, Grant said. “I went to school and got a part time job working with kids with disabilities.”
Grant graduated from UC in 1982 with his bachelor’s degree in special education and went on to get a master’s degree in rehabilitation. He worked at Jewish Vocational Services as a rehabilitation counselor. From there he transitioned into working in long term disability rehabilitation and worker’s compensation claims.
Grant was entertaining offers that could have potentially doubled his salary in both Memphis and Chicago, but his passion was working with children, and he found himself feeling disappointed that the worker’s compensation program was changing.
“I was testifying in jury trials and the industry had really gotten ugly,” Grant said.
He and his wife, Connie, and two young sons, Taylor and Jacob, had moved to Indiana to live on an eight-acre farm, which had always been a dream of his. In 1996, he accepted a job in Middletown with Abilities First as the director of operations and stayed there for six years.
Eventually the family moved back to Cincinnati. And on October 2, 2001, he accepted the position of Executive Director of United Rehabilitation Services (URS) in Dayton.
“I found that URS had a really broad reach in terms of serving little ones as well as being able to offer many therapies,” Grant said.
But Grant’s first few years at the helm weren’t easy. URS was perilously close to having to close its doors because of high administrative costs. The organization had lost $1.5 million because their programs weren’t growing.
“I had to make some hard decisions because we could barely make payroll,” Grant said. “We made deep cuts and reduced expenses where we could.”
Grant realized that fundraising hadn’t been at the forefront when he joined the agency. Eventually URS received grants from the Levin Family Foundation and the Matile Family Foundation that helped.
“I started to see it turn around in 2005,” Grant said. “I am now spending about 40% of my time raising money.”
Grant hired a development director, and the organization now hosts an annual signature fundraising event — the Rubber Duck Regatta — and also holds an annual telethon.
“In 2019, we had a waiting list for services,” Grant said. “And we added 50% to our facility with a capital campaign and a goal of having the new building done by 2021.”
But in early 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the US, URS closed for four weeks. When they opened again, their capacity was severely limited due to health and safety protocols. Today, after nearly four years, URS has slowly built back its programs and services and is now at about 75% of where they were pre-pandemic.
“It’s such a blessing that an organization like this exists,” Grant said. “People are now looking to replicate our childcare in every county in the state of Ohio because no one else does it like us.”
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