Joan and Gordon Swarthout are members of our Center’s founding families. Joan has a daughter, Deborah, and due to Deborah’s brain injury and Joan’s personal struggle to find services for Deborah in our area, they established the Rochester Foundation for Persons with Brain/ Head Injury. Joan Swarthouse, Janice Avery and James Avery incorporated the foundation on August 10th, 1989.
By April of 1996, the Ray Hickok Center, a program at the Foundation began to admit participants to the French Road location. In 2001, the Foundation moved to a small space in Village Gate Square. Later in December 2002, our name was amended to our current one: The Hickok Center for Brain Injury, Inc. As the number of participants increased, the center again moved to a larger space at Village Gate in 2003 and again in 2005.
In April of 2006, that goal of owning a building became a reality. The center purchased a building on 114 South Union Street in Rochester, NY. We finally had a place of our own. In December of 2018, after 14 wonderful years on South Union Street, the Hickok Center moved to a new building on 2320 Brighton Henrietta Town Line Road in Rochester, NY. The new location has expanded the opportunities for participants to be involved in community activities.
Currently, the Hickok Center for Brain Injury provides the following services:
- Structured Day
- Vocational services
Through the dedication of participants, staff, volunteers, the Board of Directors and all of our supporters, the Hickok Center for Brain Injury will continue to provide a place where people with brain injuries are encouraged to meet their life goals in a safe, supportive and respectful way.