Chattanooga, Tennessee. 35.046 N., 85.309 W. The Chattanooga Choo Choo. Moon Pies. The Aquarium. Lookout Mountain. Civil War Battle sites. Coca-Cola Bottling. All things forever woven into the streets, the fabric and collective consciousness of our city’s history. Another such bedrock is the Orange Grove Center.
One cannot think of Orange Grove without also thinking of recycling. The Orange Grove Center became green long before it became a popular political cause and catchphrase. Orange Grove has been living green for 40 years. The recycling partnership between Orange Grove and Chattanooga has received national and international recognition for its best practices for sustainability and green initiatives. But the City of Chattanooga has decided to end its 30-year history with Orange Grove.
(IN THE NEWS: Cutting Orange Grove recycling contract leaves disabled employees without work)
Some relationships end for understandable reasons. This is not such a decision.
Since 1953, the Orange Grove School, and then the Orange Grove Center, has served individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Currently, Orange Grove serves over 1,000 adults and children in various ways. Don’t take my word for it; visit and learn about Orange Grove on its website, orangegrovecenter.org. Clinical services, employment services, enrichment services, psychosocial rehabilitation program and residential services. Orange Grove Center does it all. Can you name another institution that rivals Orange Grove and its service to Chattanooga? Yeah, me neither.