Westside Children's Therapy Celebrates 25th Anniversary

FRANKFORT, IL — For the past 25 years, Westside Children's Therapy has been helping children with special needs and their families. Whether through clinical therapy or counseling, or through engaging and fun activities for the children, WCT has helped many people in their development and help overcome their struggles.

Shari Cassidy, the founder of WCT, was working at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago when she realized there was a need in the suburbs for services for children with special needs and developmental issues. Plus, going into private practice would shorten her daily commute, she said. And WCT started to grow from those humble roots in Frankfort. But, Shari said, she never thought WCT would grow to the size it is today. She credits her son Mark Cassidy for that growth.

Mark, who is the organization's CEO, came on board in 2013. He said he inherited a company that already had many connections in the medical world and loyal staff. He said he came on to help alleviate some of the stress Shari Cassidy was under due to the rapid growth of WCT. So Mark stepped in to help develop new employee policies, create branding around the clinic and develop the website to get more exposure for the work WCT was doing, and generally set the clinic up for continued growth.

“I equate it to the effect of unkinking a hose because as soon as we did that it started growing,” Mark said. “My intent originally was to help my mom destress and add some organization to what she had created, and it just sucked me in afterward because of the growth.”

That growth kept Mark around, and now WCT has grown from a single location and about 20 employees to nearly 20 locations around the suburbs and more than 400 employees, all of whom share in the mission of putting families first and following what’s called “The Westside Way,” or the culture that defines the organization.

That culture is based on G.R.E.A.T. outcomes, Mark explained: Growth, relationships, efficiency, attitude and teamwork to “change children’s lives by achieving the highest clinical outcomes.”

“[The Westside Way] is a shorthand way of expressing those values, and it’s our way of saying, ‘This is what we do here,’” Mark said. “And I’m a big believer that when we do those things it creates a successful and positive work environment that people want to be a part of. … Culture eats strategy for breakfast, and if you can be a great place to work it’s going to win in the long run.”

The organization does this through the variety of clinical services it provides, including; occupational, physical, speech and feeding therapy; counseling services for children, parents and family members; and a host of clinical services for children on the autism spectrum to improve cognitive, behavioral, social, and executive functioning.

The clinics offer sensory spaces designed to make children excited to be there, private spaces for more individualized therapy, work spaces and learning stations, multi-purpose gym areas, and calming nooks to help children relax and focus on a particular activity.

The clinics even offer special events for its patients and their families that may not strictly be related to any therapy, such as its annual Fall Fest, visits from Santa and his elves, costume contests, and many other seasonal and holiday-related activities.

“Why do we do that after work hours? Because people will get excited and are fulfilled by doing those types of things,” Mark said. “That’s just kind of built into the DNA of our culture here and the people that we’ve hired.

“... Those things are always going to be a part of Westside because of the people we have. Those ideas come about when you’re thinking about, ‘How can I help support and serve the families who are a part of the Westside community?’ And those ideas come from that, and it wouldn’t happen if the therapists didn’t have the passion that they have.”

After 25 years of providing services for children with special needs, The Cassidys said they have no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

Part of the continued growth of WCT is rooted in its foundation, the Westside Foundation, which provides financial support for families across the state with children with special needs, not just the ones who are patients at WCT.

The Westside Foundation is scheduled to host a 5K run/walk Sept. 12 in The Village Commons in New Lenox. More information on that can be found by visiting the Westside Foundation’s website.

Looking back on the past 25 years, Shari said that one of the things she’s most proud of about WCT is the collaboration among the different team members to help with the overall therapy for a patient.

“When I first got to the suburbs, it was hard to get that [collaboration],” she said. “Now, I think we have a team that, I think, Mark as the CEO has fostered that when everyone works together you get better outcomes.”

She also said she was proud of her family, including Mark, his two sisters who are therapists, a son-in-law and another son who are working on the development of the clinics — a whole family effort in the organization’s mission.

“The number of kids that we’re helping now, I could never have envisioned doing that, and I could not have done it alone,” Shari said.

Fore more information, visit the Westside Children’s Therapy website.

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