The Exceptional Persons, Inc. (EPI) Board of Directors Announces Bargain Sale Donation

posted by Katie Slade on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

In a generous bargain sale, John Pedersen, Frank Dowie, III, and Mac McCausland, owners of the 8,085-square-foot PDCM Insurance building on University Avenue, have sold the building to Exceptional Persons, Inc.

EPI will finance the bargain sale through a Black Hawk County bond. Thanks to further furnishing donations from PDCM Insurance, the space will need very little renovation.

The new facility will be called the Pedersen, Dowie, McCausland Center.

"PDCM Insurance has been invested in this community for 100 years - we've been in this building for 26 of those years. It was important to us to pass the building on to an equally invested community partner. We liked the idea of being able to give back through the bargain sale to an organization that also gives back to the community through their work," Mac McCausland, one of the building owners and partner in PDCM.

The additional space will house service delivery supervisory staff for EPI's growing services.

"Services provided by EPI have steadily evolved and grown over the years, which naturally requires more office space. We are deeply grateful to Mac McCausland, John Pedersen, and Frank Dowie for making this building, which suits our needs perfectly, available to us at a reduced price. In addition PDCM Insurance is leaving much of their office furniture for our use, which will be very functional for us and further reduce the cost of this additional space. They continue to invest in the Cedar Valley through their generosity." Chris Sparks, EPI's executive director.

EPI's current 13,388-square-foot administrative building located at 760 Ansborough Avenue in Waterloo was built in 1988. Since then EPI has experienced steady growth and has had to rent additional satellite offices for its operations.

EPI estimates its move in April following PDCM's relocation to its new facility on Airline Highway.

EPI will continue to provide mission-driven services at its Deery Center located at 3675 University Avenue.

The Deery Center, originally home to EPI's CHOICE Day Habilitation program and Children & Family Services, will now be home to EPI's Child Care Center in addition to Children & Family Services. 

Responding to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' definition of community, EPI’s CHOICE day habilitation program for adults with disabilities became 100% community integrated, or a program without walls, effective December 1, 2015. This opened up 73% of the space at the EPI-owned facility.

Renovating the space into a child care center will assist in fulfilling a much needed gap to meet the demand for quality child care in Black Hawk County.

Sparks said, "There continues to be a critical shortage of child care services in the Cedar Valley. We are excited to begin offering child care services and know that our staff and many others will benefit." 

EPI, founded in 1957 in Waterloo, Iowa, as Exceptional Persons, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization created as a catalyst for community based services for people with developmental and other related disabilities. Today’s EPI fosters the active community participation of people with disabilities through residential and transportation services, day activity centers, community living, as well as works to expand child care options and to improve the quality of child care available for families in Northeast Iowa. EPI serves over 5,500 children, adults, and families in Northeast Iowa a year and employs more than 400 dedicated individuals.