The Shorkey Center was established in 1944 to serve children and families of children with special needs. The Shorkey Center moved into the current location built in 1967. The center is a United Way Recipient and still serves children and families with special needs providing daily care, school programs, and offering aquatic, speech, physical, occupational, and ABA therapy.

The building requires consistent TLC to maintain its composure. A critical piece to this process is Mr. Willie Williams who has been with the Center for over 7 years. Mr. Willie can fix, repair, or build just about anything. When hurricane Laura hit, he volunteered to spend the night and watch over the facility because it had previously flooded and caused extensive damage in Harvey and Imelda. Mr. Willie has been through a few hurricanes and in preparation he purchased a generator to run the refrigerator and freezer utilized to feed the Center’s students. The center lost power about 1 am and Mr. Willie set up the generator and it malfunctioned. An anonymous donor, DONATED a new generator to keep the food at the appropriate temperatures and saved 2-weeks’ worth of food. 

Due to the efforts of Mr. Williams and the anonymous donor, the Center did not miss a beat and began providing services the following Monday.