Sunshine was founded in 1950 by Roy and Georgette Engler of Maumee, Ohio. The Englers had five children who were mentally retarded due to the Rh factor, a condition of blood incompatibility that is treatable today. However, in the 1920s and 1930s when the Englers were raising their children, support services were non-existent and governmental facilities were poorly run.



The Englers decided to use their own family tragedy and personal experience as caregivers to help others. Sunshine Children’s Home opened its doors in 1951 and by the next year the Englers, their four adult children and three employees were caring for 23 infants and toddlers.

Sunshine has experienced continuous growth over the past 50 plus years. Today Sunshine serves more than 900 individuals and families in a variety of settings. Sunshine’s Children’s Home now cares for 75 medically fragile children and young adults on a sprawling 25-acre wooded campus on Maumee Western Road in Maumee, Ohio. An additional 100 adults are cared for in 16 Family Care Homes spread across three counties and another 125 adults received supported living services in their own homes.

Sunshine’s Family Support Department coordinates several programs providing family resource dollars, crisis intervention, weekly recreational programming and overnight respite care. Sunshine also offers supported employment opportunities, therapeutic animal activities, clinical services such as physical, occupational and speech therapy and many other support services.

Sunshine is recognized as a leading provider of residential services in the state of Ohio. In 2001, Sunshine was named “Provider of the Year” by the Ohio Provider Resource Association (OPRA). The organization continues to be guided by the vision of Roy and Georgette Engler and the values of the Mennonite Church to provide loving care to persons in need.