Cover Story Network of Community Options and Jennie Lee

For nearly five decades, Network of Community Options, Inc. has been committed to helping people with developmental disabilities, which turned out to be a perfect fit for Jennie Lee Stobaugh.

As a young girl growing up in northern Alabama, Stobaugh always wanted to be a teacher. She attended what was then Arkansas College (now Lyon College) in Batesville and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. “When I got my bachelor’s I went ahead to ASU in Jonesboro and got my master’s in special ed. … My certification was in moderate-profound disabilities. I was the second person in the state of Arkansas to get that certification,” she said.

In 1975, she and Jerry Stobaugh married, and she became a stepmom to two boys, David and Jeff, who were 11 and 12 at the time. Michael John was born two years later, and it wasn’t long before she and Jerry realized he needed specialized medical attention. “I remember after we got home from the hospital, he didn’t cry,” Stobaugh said. “He just sounded like a little kitten; you could barely hear him.”

Within days, Michael developed projectile vomiting and he was rushed to a pediatrician, who referred the family to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. “They found a blockage in his duodenum - duodenal stenosis, it was called,” Stobaugh said. “He weighed only 4 pounds, 12 ounces. He weighed 6 pounds when he was born. He just kept throwing up and couldn’t keep his formula down.”

Much later on, their pediatrician told Stobaugh when he first examined Michael after he was born, he started to say he thought Michael might have Down syndrome because he had almond-shaped eyes. Then he saw Stobaugh was of Asian descent, and he attributed the eye crease to her heritage rather than a possible genetic disorder so he said nothing. Le Bonheur ran some genetic tests to determine whether Michael was indeed born with Down syndrome. Stobaugh explained she and Jerry were sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for him to come. On the corner of the desk was a manila envelope with Michael’s name on it.

“I opened it up and it had X-rays and reports in there that said his hips were abducted (wide apart), which was consistent with infants who had Down syndrome. I was reading that out loud and Jerry asked, ‘What’s that?’”

Stobaugh said she noticed several books in the doctor’s office and pulled down a volume that might have an explanation. She compared the book to the doctor’s report and told her husband, “The baby has Down syndrome.”

The doctor arrived and sat down, confirming Michael, who was just 2 weeks old, did have Down syndrome and that he needed surgery. Michael ended up staying a couple months in the hospital.

“It was scary,” Stobaugh said, but she soon became

Michael’s best advocate. In that time, she found Network of Community Options, which then was called Helping Hands School

In August of 1980, Stobaugh went to work for the organization and wore a number of hats. “Besides executive director, I was also the head special ed teacher because we had school age children there. I wrote all the IEPs and IPPs (plans developed to address a student’s individual learning needs), and then I also taught in the school-age classroom part of the day. Then I transported people in my van, taking them home, because I live in Batesville.

“I cooked some days if the cook didn’t make it.” Stobaugh said they soon partnered with The Community School to apply for a HUD grant, which paved the way for the Catherine R. Barnett Home in Batesville and the Russell J. Stuebing Home in Ash Flat; the first move-in was in 1984. NCO manages both sites and operates the Stuebing Home (The Community School manages the Barnett Home).

Eventually, there was a change in the laws that would guarantee all children a free, appropriate public education, and NCO quit providing school-age services. The goal was integration and when that was not possible, the law required children be placed in the least restrictive environment as possible.

“The waiver program came along in 1989,” Stobaugh continued. “It gave us the opportunity to access community-based services for our clientele; it gave us the opportunity to have a worker and get the supports they needed to participate in the community and remain at home instead of going to a state institution or even a group home setting.”

In the 1990s, NCO continued to expand as it acquired the group home in Salem, called Clayton Court, followed by two daycares in Highland. Wee Care Day Care serves 3-5 year olds while Wee Care Child Enrichment Center has ages 0-3.

It was during that time frame that the name changed. From its incorporation in 1974, the name had been Helping Hands for some 20 years, but Stobaugh said the majority of the adults in the day program disliked the idea that they were “going to school.”

Stobaugh said a contest was held to find a name that would better fit the organization’s mission, and people submitted names, then voted. The name Network of Community Options was suggested by Alice Hinson, an LPN who lived in Horseshoe Bend and worked for NCO for several years. As Stobaugh explained, networking played a major part in the organization and it felt like a perfect fit.

With all the facilities and clients, Stobaugh said, NCO networks with other organizations that serve people with disabilities. This includes therapy companies, adaptive

“Stobaugh was named Spring River Area Chamber of Commerce’s Business and Professional Woman of the Year in 1999, and in 2019 Arkansas State Rep. Stu Smith presented a citation honoring Stobaugh for her years of service.” equipment companies, transportation companies. “There’s no way we could do everything ourselves,” she said. “You have to have many resources available to you.”

Besides the other agencies, NCO works with state legislators to better meet the needs of the clients it serves, not to mention three different boards of directors. In addition to the NCO board, there are also the North Arkansas Special Housing board and the Fulton County Community Housing board.

Stobaugh said she could not imagine the exponential growth NCO has experienced, and while that was never her goal, she said she wanted to help people access services that weren’t available to them.

“NCO has really grown a lot in the last 40 years - we started serving two counties, and now it’s 21. We started with 18 clients and one site location. Now, have 11 site locations, and at one time we had over 400 clients,” she said. “And we have consistently been in the top five largest (non-manufacturing) employers in the county, as listed in First Community Bank’s (annual publication Batesville and Independence County) Economic Report.”

Stobaugh stated this growth is the result of having long time employees and Board of Directors that shared the vision and worked hard to promote quality services.

Stobaugh was named Spring River Area Chamber of Commerce’s Business and Professional Woman of the Year in 1999, and in 2019 Arkansas State Rep. Stu Smith presented a citation honoring Stobaugh for her years of service.

She has presented at Family Leadership conferences, been a member of Developmental Disabilities Providers Association, Arkansas Transit Association and other organizations.

Stobaugh stepped down as NCO, Inc.’s executive director to take on a role as administrative consultant but plans to retire and continue to spend time traveling with Michael. Whenever they visit new places, Stobaugh likes to “go pickin’ and junkin’.”

In 2009, she opened a booth inside Etta’s Attic on Main Street in Batesville, and in 2011 there was an opportunity to purchase the business. Stobaugh loves talking with the customers about their interests and seeing their faces light up when they find a particular piece.

Stepping down is hard, she admitted, saying she would miss the clientele the most. “They still come in the store and I still see them. I have thoroughly enjoyed my career at Network of Community Options - it’s been very rewarding,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of friends and gotten to know a lot of families.” N

Jennie Lee Stobaugh, Administrative Consultant for NCO, Inc., attended Betty Waser’s 100th birthday party at the Hardy Civic Center last May.

The two met in the mid 1980’s. It was the beginning of a long and close friendship. Shortly after that first meeting, Betty began serving on the board of directors for NCO, Inc. and our two HUD organizations, North Arkansas Special Housing, Inc. and Fulton County Community Housing, Inc. Ms. Betty passed the evening of January, the 20th, 2023. She is already missed.