When Brian Wipperman was meeting with staff last month at what was then Marcfirst, there was a particular point he wanted to emphasize.
"What I honed in on ... was how they really do God's work. They all find ways to remove barriers to care, to provide the best care they can no matter what the barriers in their way," the CEO of the former Marcfirst said. "I think that really sums up who we are and what we do."
Wipperman was describing the work of staff at what is now called Lifelong Access — a deliberate rebrand of the nonprofit that has served families, children and people with disabilities since its Bloomington-Normal founding in 1955.
Much has changed in 68 years. Back then, information about developmental disabilities was limited; parents and caregivers to people with developmental disabilities wanted more for their loved ones than what institutional care offered to them. Thus, a national organization called NARC was formed in 1953. Included in that acronym of a name was a word now considered derogatory; because the local organization was in some ways mirroring the national one, the naming was similiar and included the same word. The differentiating "m" stood for McLean County.
There were tweaks to the name over the years: MARC changed to Marc Center in 1980, and in 2007 the name changed to Marcfirst. But the term hidden within the acronym remained a key part of the name.
"Still having that tie to MARC — we felt like that was just something we wanted to get away from," Wipperman said.
Efforts to rethink the name got underway earlier this year. Initially, there was a concern of name recognition: Could an agency in its seventh decade rebrand and still be recognized by the community?
"I think this will just continue to give us greater community recognition. We know like anything else (that) people will adjust. I feel like it's just an easier story for us to be able to share with people when we say Lifelong Access," Wipperman said.
The name change was first announced last week at A D'Vine Affair, a longtime charity event that raises money for the organization. Since then, Wipperman said feedback from the community at large has been positive.
"When they understand the 'why,' they've all really embraced it. It's been a great, positive change for us, for sure," he said.
Lifelong Access provides a range of services for children, teenagers and adults with developmental disabilities, ranging from pediatric therapy to high school transition programming and supported employment services. It advertises itself as the largest pediatric therapy service provider in McLean County. Lifelong Access moved to its current location on Jacobssen Drive in 2022 and shares space with the Central Illinois Bridge Academy.
