To provide gap funding to any individual living with disabilities and special needs for services, support and other opportunities through the Disabilities Board of Charleston County.
We hope to redefine abilities by meeting needs, providing a path to pursue dreams, achieving goals, and maximizing independence and contributions to the community.
Chairman
Ben Rogers currently serves as IT Director of the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. In addition to serving on the board of the DisABILITIES Foundation of Charleston County, he also serves on the board at the Family Resource Center for Disabilities and Special needs, which serves the Tricounty area. He is a parent of an individual with a developmental disability.
Vice-Chairman
Erick Lemon is the Director of Digital Strategies and Innovation at MUSC Libraries. In this position, Erick Leads innovative new technology efforts to support the research and education of students, faculty, and staff. In his current role, he has served as Principal Investigator of a Technology Improvement grant awarded by the Network of the National Library of Medicine. Erick is the co-author of Using Virtual Cohorts for Wellness, Problem-Solving, and Leadership Development. He holds a Master of Science in Information Technology from Kennesaw State University and a Bachelor of Science in Technology Support and Training Management from the University of South Carolina.
Secretary of the Board
Bio Coming Soon!
Board Member
For the last twenty-five years, Mr. Ewing has worked with individual and institutional clients on setting investment policy, establishing asset allocation with risk guidelines, selecting investment managers and monitoring those managers and their performance against established criteria. Held position of vice chairman and member of the SC Retirement Commission. Served as Chairman of the DisABILITIES Foundation and is serving currently as an active board member.
Board Member
Victoria Drohan is the Access Specialist in the Center for Disability Services at the College of Charleston. Victoria has dedicated her career to working with children, youth, and college students in schools, hospitals, and higher education settings, particularly those with disabilities. She knows the challenges the disabled community faces first hand, as she was diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy at the age of three. Prior to her current position, she worked with AccessAbility as a transition specialist. Currently, she is on the SCAHEAD board as the co-programming chair. Other community highlights include giving a TEDx talk in 2017 titled “How to Interact with Disabled People,” being part of the Link20 movement, and also being invited to the Link20 National Leadership Conference in Baltimore in 2019. She also helped create the Disabilities Inclusion Program (D.I.P.) in the Office of Workforce Development at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Victoria graduated from the College of Charleston in 2014 with her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and from Boston College in 2019 with her Master of Social Work.
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The Disabilities Board of Charleston County (DBCC) is the leading provider of services and supportive programs for children and adults with specials needs in Charleston County. The Board offers early intervention, service coordination, a developmental child center, adult day programs, and residential supports to individuals with severe, lifelong disabilities, such as intellectual disability, autism, traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury. Extensive services and supportive programs are provided both in the form of in-home care as well as through dozens of facilities in Charleston County and neighboring counties.
Functioning as the sole provider of care and resources for those with special needs in Charleston County, the Board relies heavily on The Able Life Foundation for gap funding. These monies assist with everything from maintenance of the Board’s many facilities and homes to basic household and education supplies.
Originally founded as the Hope Center for the Retarded, Inc., services began in 1958 through efforts of the Charleston Civitans and The Council for the Retarded Children of Charleston. In 1974, the SC General Assembly created the Mental Retardation Board of Charleston County to coordinate and administer services to people with mental retardation and related disabilities. In 1988, The Mental Retardation Board of Charleston County assumed operation of the Hope Center for the Retarded, Inc., a sheltered workshop for persons with developmental disabilities which had 35 employees and 10 vehicles.
In 1993, the agency was renamed the Disabilities Board of Charleston County, and assumed the operations of the Charles Webb Center, a non-profit organization providing supports for children with disabilities and special needs that was founded in 1919. The agency moved its administrative offices to the current location at 995 Morrison Drive in 1997. Today, with an annual budget of over 18 million dollars, this community-based agency serves nearly 2000 individuals and has 450 employees.
R U Running? promotes the health and wellness of the disabled and special needs community as well as able bodied individuals and was formed to create awareness of the Able Life Foundation.
Created in 2010, the Avondale 5K helps fund the Charles Webb Center, which is a developmental child care center operated by the Disabilities Board of Charleston County, serving children with special needs from age 6 weeks to 10 years old.
Racers for Pacers is dedicated to raising funds to provide running chairs for disabled individuals who cannot run on their own. Pacers provide the individual an opportunity to “run” once or twice a week and in local competitive runs held in and around Charleston.