The Hughen Center, Inc.

The Hughen Center, Inc., site of the Hughen Center, Bob Hope School and Hebert Adult Center in Port Arthur, Texas, is celebrating 75 years of service to children and adults with physical disabilities and other functional impairments. The idea for the Center started in 1922, when a committee was formed in the interest of “crippled” youngsters. In 1933, the Port Arthur Society for Crippled Children was organized. A crucial need was for these children to get an education. Schoolhouses were not built then to accommodate children in wheelchairs, on crutches, and wearing heavy metal braces. On March 18, 1936, the concept of what is today called Hughen Center began in one room of a local charity hospital. It was called the “Spastic School,” as the five children in this first class had cerebral palsy, a condition that causes involuntary spasms of the limbs. With an annual budget of $1,875, the staff consisted of one teacher, a therapist, and a helper. It was their job to provide these youngsters with individualized care, education and therapies designed to enrich the quality of their lives – at a time when little was known about the causes of “crippling” conditions, and even less about the most successful methods of special education. A local benefactor, Thomas W. Hughen, donated property for the building of the first school house. By Christmas, 1936, The Thomas W. Hughen School for Crippled Children was constructed.

 

Over the next 30 years, additional services were introduced, including physical, occupational and speech therapy programs. Real life “miracles” were seen and heard as new technology allowed nonverbal children to communicate via computers for the first time in their lives. Several additions to the campus allowed special needs children from outside the area to live at Hughen. The only criteria for entry during this time was that the child have an orthopedic disability, be able to function in a specialized classroom setting, and be between the ages of 5-21. Not only did Hughen Center provide for the immediate educational needs of these children, it advocated for significant change in state legislation. On behalf of the Hughen Center (Port Arthur Society), Texas State Legislator W.L. Smith introduced the Education Act of 1945. This legislation became law and was widely recognized as the “founding of Texas’ special education for crippled and handicapped children.”

 

The Hughen Center’s 75 year history includes the aid of legendary icons Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Coach Bum Phillips and the generous support of the Southeast Texas community.. In 1968, a gift from NASA Johnson Space Center Astronauts and Jimmy Durante, through the F.O.E. Durante Crippled Children’s Fund, paid for a heated therapy pool lovingly named the “Inka Dinka Doo Pool.” Over the next 20 years, legendary entertainer Bob Hope became personally involved with the Hughen Center. He often referred to the students as “his kids.” He and Mrs. Hope traveled to Port Arthur often to appear in fundraisers on the Center’s behalf. Mrs. Hope continues the family’s benefaction today.

 

Joining forces with the Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.), Bob Hope’s first fundraiser for Hughen Center, held in Houston, raised over $1 million to erect a high school on campus. In 1979, Bob Hope School became the newest addition to the Hughen Center. The Fraternal Order of Eagles Memorial Foundation honored the commitment of the Hopes by establishing the “Bob and Dolores Hope Scholarship.” This provides all graduates of Hope School with a full four-year scholarship to the college or vocational training institute of their choice. This scholarship is active today.

 

By the mid-1980’s, funds were donated by a local couple, Mr. and Mrs. Wilton Hebert, for another addition to the campus. It was referred to as “The Hebert Adult Vocational Training Center” for adults ages 20-65-plus whose physical disabilities have minimized their career opportunities. This addition now includes the Dolores Hope Library and Computer Lab, a demonstration kitchen, arts and crafts area, horticultural space, and greenhouse.

 

Currently, the Hughen Center is home for up to 52 boys and girls with physical disabilities and other functional impairments. Hughen Center is licensed as a General Residential Operation by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. We provide treatment services, a transitional living program, and complete care to our children including skilled nursing care, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, individual and group therapy, basic child care and life skills training. The Hebert Adult Center, licensed as an adult day care by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, is active in providing day services for up to 40 adults in need. These services include lunch, snacks, skilled nursing care, activities, transportation, computer class, and attendant care. The Hughen Center received a charter from the Texas State Board of Education for a charter school - Bob Hope School that opened in August 2010 for 250 junior high and high school students.