Organization's Director Cited for Dedication
By Crystal Yednak
Staff Writer
The ad asked for a football player who could baby-sit a young boy.
New Lenox resident Art Dykstra, then a college student, thought the parents wanted someone who could toss the ball around with their son.
But the couple were looking for someone to help with their autistic son, who would become very aggressive whenever his parents left the house.
Dykstra took the job, and the experience led him to a career of helping people with autism and developmental disabilities.
Thirty years later, he is now director of the Joliet-based Trinity Services, a nonprofit organization that serves hundreds of people with developmental disabilities.
Since he took over in 1987, Trinity has expanded from 33 employees to about 500; the budget has increased from $500,000 to $18 million.
And Dykstra and his staff continue looking for new ways to help their clients.
Born in Racine, Wis., in 1943, Dykstra graduated from Bethel College in St. Paul, Minn., then earned a master's degree in clinical psychology at Bradley University in Peoria.
He started working at Elgin Hospital and was struck by the way vulnerable people were treated.
"I decided to help people who had no power," Dykstra said.
That he has done, and along the way, he and his wife of 34 years, Anita, had 3 children. Son Thane is clincial director for the behavioral health program at Trinity; Heather is a publilc policy analyst for the Department of Corrections in Washington, D.C.; and Megan recently graduated from nursing school.
Dykstra spent 20 years working for the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, including 7 years as the Chicago regional director for developmental disabilities.
Tired of the commute to Chicago from his New Lenox home, he called Trinity after hearing about it from a colleague.
At that time, Trinity had only a school program and an adult education program.
From behind a round, green table that serves as his desk, Dykstra ticks off a list of Trinity's many programs, including integrated day care, residential living, and employement programs. It also has several self-supporting businesses that employ people with developmental disabilities.
And about 325 people will be living in residential programs by the end of February.
In 1995, Dykstra wrote a book titled "Outcome Management" about how to provide services to people with disabilities.
Trinity also has been in the spotlight recently because Dykstra was listed in a new book, "In Search of America's Best Nonprofits," as an example of a compassionate and dedicated person leading a nonprofit organization.
Dykstra said he was pleased but embarrassed by being singled out.
"It was a tremendous honor for Trinity to be included, but there was way too much Art Dykstra. We have 500 people who really care about what we're doing," he said.
But the recognition of Dykstra's leadership abilities have alerted others to what's going on at Trinity. Groups have been asking Dykstra to speak and have been visiting Trinity to find out how the agency is run.
Among the things visitors will find in Dykstra's office are dozens of green frogs--gifts from friends after he referred to the frog prince during a speech about mental illness at the University of Notre Dame.
The frog has become a mascot of sorts for Trinity. Employees reward each other for a job well done with small frog pins and certificates.
Dykstra's 5-year-old golden retriever Jake wanders in and out of the office as he tells the history of the frogs.
"If I can't enjoy and have fun, I don't want to do this," he said. "But I take seriously what I'm doing here."
© 23 January 1998 The Daily Southtown