Winter – 2024
DDC Clinic Expansion and New Family Heart Center
By Eli Miller, executive director
Greetings from your neighbor, DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children. The summer went by much too fast, and it’s close to Thanksgiving already, but we hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Be patient, and April will be here before we know it.
How different Geauga County must’ve been at the time of that first Thanksgiving feast many years ago. It’s hard for the younger generations to imagine the hardships, toil, and occasional despair our ancestors must have experienced while shaping this land for the future. Let’s remember to be grateful and equally diligent to leave behind the important things that really matter for our children and grandchildren.
2024 was an exceptional year for DDC Clinic, soon to be celebrating 25 years of helping families of special needs children with severe handicaps. We added six new staff members and new collaborating medical partners who provide echocardiograms, pediatric and adult cardiology care, and free well-child checkups. With the opening of our Family Heart Center, our partners offer these services right here at DDC Clinic – a place that families know and trust. This saves our families travel time and travel costs by eliminating long-distance travel to big medical centers. And it means that families get expert care at our affordable patient rates, not an inflated big medical center price. Since genetic heart conditions often affect multiple members of the same family, regular annual checkups create financial hardship for families. DDC Clinic’s Family Heart Center brings accessible, affordable cardiogenetic care under one roof for whole families, from infants to elderly adults with genetic heart conditions.
But we don’t stop there. DDC Clinic’s new office in Titusville, Pennsylvania, opened in February 2024, is another fitting example of accessible healthcare for our patients. Even though several hundred patients travelled many miles to DCC Clinic year-round from communities surrounding Titusville, they now have DDC Clinic’s wide scope of services in their backyard. By removing the barrier of a two-hour trip to Middlefield, many new patients from the Titusville area are now getting treatment for genetic disorders that were previously undiagnosed.
Long-term sustainability and securing DDC Clinic’s future are critical to our patients and the community. We are hiring younger staff, early in their career, who we are grooming to become long-term, dedicated staff members who understand the unique challenges presented by these rare genetic conditions. Special children deserve special care, so having dedicated and compassionate medical caregivers supports the future children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of tomorrow.
For non-profit medical homes like DDC Clinic, growth such as this happens because people like you care about the well-being of others. Thank you for supporting and accepting DDC Clinic in the community. DDC Clinic would not be here without the awesome support of so many generous and caring people. We are forever grateful for your kind and compassionate help.
Please reach out to me with any suggestions, constructive criticism, or advice, and feel free to visit or give us a call to find out more about DDC Clinic’s mission. DDC Clinic in located at 14567 Madison Road, Middlefield, OH 44062, 440-632-1668, Find us online at www.ddcclinic.org.
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Autumn – 2024
Answering Special Needs for Children
By Eli Miller, executive director DDC Clinic
Greetings from your neighbor, DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children, the mission of DDC Clinic is to enhance the quality of life for people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders.
What’s better than northeast Ohio’s great summer weather? But then, I’ve never experienced summer anywhere else either. I just think it’s hard to beat if you like a variety.
This summer is especially busy and exciting here at DDC Clinic. We are experiencing rapid growth, and have multiple projects and events planned, above and beyond the usual benefit auctions, etc. With our expanding work, our small staff of 11 has quickly grown to 16 since January, and new patients are rapidly increasing.
In the previous issue, I mentioned the opening of DDC Clinic’s Family Heart Center. We continue to expand cardiogenetic services and treatments to accommodate the increase in patients. Housed here in the lower level at DDC Clinic, we have both pediatric and adult specialists here to see and follow our patients with genetic heart conditions. We provide on-site EKG and echocardiograms for all ages. Providing these tests and follow-up visits at an affordable price is critical, saving families, and ultimately the whole community, millions each year in cardiac medical care costs.
In October, we’re hosting a three-day Cardiogenetic Summit and Grand Opening event for the Family Heart Center, featuring an educational day of talks from leading cardiac experts, an Amish cultural tour, grand opening ceremony for the Family Heart Center and a community day for heart health. Please visit our website if you would like to attend this event or want to know more, www.ddcclinic.org/events/3-day-cardiogenetics-summit.
Only one of our 2024 benefit auctions remain for the year. Planned for Friday, August 23 at the Buster Miller farm on the corner of Newcomb and Nash Roads, this is the largest of our benefit events. It includes a large five-item raffle, Chinese raffle, silent auction, live auction, three meals starting with a 5 a.m. breakfast, and all the fun you can imagine for a great family event. Funding from our benefit auctions and events are very important for our mission, raising more than 25 percent of our budget each year.
In the last 20 years DDC Clinic’s doctors and researchers have discovered and named several new genetic disorders that were never before described in medical history. While some conditions are very devastating with almost no treatment yet found, others are very treatable, sometimes just by tweaking the diet. In keeping with its mission, DDC Clinic serves all families affected by rare genetic disorders, regardless of religion, race, or ability to pay for services.
Since 2002, we have treated more than 1,800 patients from eight countries, 35 states, and 41 Ohio counties.
Thank you for supporting and accepting DDC Clinic in the community. We would not be here without the awesome support of so many generous and caring people. We are forever grateful for your kind and compassionate help. Please reach out to me with any suggestions, constructive criticism, or advice, and feel free to visit or give us a call to find out more about DDC Clinic’s mission.
DDC Clinic in located at 14567 Madison Road, Middlefield, OH 44062. Call 440-632-1668 and find us online at www.ddcclinic.org.
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Summer – 2024
Update from the DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
Mission: To enhance the quality of life for people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders
Greetings from your neighbor, DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
What an amazing time of year here in Northeast Ohio! The warmer temperatures nudging us toward the beautiful summer months ahead. The miracle of planting seeds and watching them sprout and grow reminding us of our great and almighty Creator! It is simply AWESOME!
It’s also an exciting time here at DDC Clinic!
Our Pennsylvania Branch in Titusville was opened back in February and has been well received and busy. It’s known simply as DDC Clinic–PA Branch. One nurse practitioner and one medical assistant are the only staff there so far. The families from there who used to have to travel to Middlefield are tickled to now also have DDC Clinic in their back yard. We are so grateful for the financial support to be able to do that for them, and they’re equally grateful! Thank you to our many generous friends who made this second clinic possible!
The Family Heart Center we’ve been working on so hard for the past year is finally up and running since March! Housed right here in the lower level at DDC Clinic, we’ve brought in adult and pediatric cardiologists to see and follow our patients with genetic heart conditions. We’re able to now provide on-site EKG and echocardiograms for adults, children, and infants. Providing these tests and follow-up visits at an affordable price is critical, saving families, and ultimately the whole community millions each year in cardiac medical care costs.
Did you know that DDC Clinic’s first-ever fundraiser, back in 1999 raised $50. Collected in an Amish straw hat at one of the first board meetings, it was enough to give DDC Clinic its humble start. I guess we’ve come a long way since then! Today, we have 1,750 patients from eight countries, 35 states, and 41 Ohio counties. Four dinner and auction fundraisers annually, raise more than 25 percent of our budget each year. We also get funding from numerous family foundations, and many generous donations from individuals and businesses. With a small staff of only 15 spread out in two locations, we each wear several different hats to accomplish our mission.
We would love to see you at one of our fundraiser events this summer. Our annual Patchwork Dinner is on Saturday, June 29, at Meadow Ridge Events in Huntsburg. Tickets are $75 per person and attendees will need to RSVP. Please call for 440-632-1668 for tickets. The Mennonite community’s benefit auction for Special Needs Children in Shiloh, Ohio, is on Saturday, July 13, followed by the 12th Annual DDC Clinic benefit auction in Spartansburg, PA, on Friday evening, Aug. 2. The final and largest auction of 2024 will be on Friday, Aug. 23 at the Buster Miller Farm, intersection of Newcomb and Nash Roads. Please call us or stop in for more information on any of these events.
Please reach out to me with any suggestions, constructive criticism, or advice, and feel free to visit or give us a call to find out more about our mission. Thank you for supporting and accepting DDC Clinic in the community! Until next time.
Blessings,
Eli Miller,
Executive Director
DDC Clinic in located at 14567 Madison Road, Middlefield, OH 44062, 440-632-1668
Find us online at www.ddcclinic.org
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Spring – 2024
Update from the DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
Mission: To enhance the quality of life for people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders
Greetings from your neighbor DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
In November 2023, DDC Clinic lost a dear friend and supporter. Dr Susan Turben passed away on her 87th birthday on Nov. 6. Susan and her husband Jack have generously supported DDC Clinic for almost 20 years, personally and through the Susan and John Turben Foundation. Susan’s passion for helping children was evident through her generous support and involvement in the many organizations she served.
We may wonder, “Why would the Turben family be compelled to support an ‘Amish’ clinic in Middlefield. Since most of our patients are Amish, and the Amish are a small minority of the general population, why not support a bigger and more glamorous cause.” I believe the answer to that is Susan’s unselfish nature. I believe Susan saw the need, and maybe a much bigger picture than most of us see. Here is a small “Amish” clinic in the small town of Middlefield, treating patients with rare genetic conditions. Unless we see the bigger picture, we will miss the impact this work is making for the rest of the world.
Our physicians share their findings with other doctors and researchers around the world. By working with these rare conditions every day they’ve gained much insight and valuable experience in genetic disorders. Sharing this expertise and knowledge is essential in providing important education to other experts in the medical world. Not only is this important for families in other Plain communities, but it’s also equally important to others in the medical field, as our research findings translate to treatments of other diseases and conditions.
So, this is how a small Amish clinic in the middle of a field in the country is contributing to the rest of the world. This is the bigger picture that folks like the Turben family and many others see, realizing that by supporting a local cause, the rippling affects are seen and felt globally. This is also why it’s so important for us as doctors, nurses, staff, board members, etc., at DDC Clinic, to see this bigger picture, and strive to be good stewards of the resources provided to us through the generosity of others.
We are very grateful for the many 2023 year-end contributions made to DDC Clinic. Without the support and generous giving of our many friends, DCC Clinic would not exist, meaning many families would be left without diagnoses, treatment, and compassionate care for their loved ones. May you be blessed!
Please reach out to me with any suggestions, constructive criticism, or advice, and feel free to visit or give us a call to find out more about our mission. Thank you for supporting and accepting DDC Clinic in the community! Until next time.
Blessings,
Eli Miller, executive director
DDC Clinic in located at 14567 Madison Road, Middlefield, OH 44062, 440-632-1668
Find us online at DDCclinic.org
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Winter – 2023
Update from the DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
Mission: To enhance the quality of life for people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders
Greetings from your neighbor, DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
Is it really November already? Didn’t we just get used to writing 2023. Soon it’ll be full swing into the holiday season. I will try to remember the less fortunate during this time. We can all think of families who have lost a loved one, or are facing some hardship, catastrophe, or other trial in their life. Let’s please remember them in prayer, that they may be sustained by God’s comfort and grace.
2023 brought great blessings to DDC Clinic. Our fundraising events were above and beyond what we had hoped for. Folks from many states supported our raffle and auctions. Witnessing the generosity displayed at our benefit events is humbling, and makes us very grateful for the communities we live in. Thank you to all that supported our 2023 events. We’re thankful and blessed to have you as our neighbors and friends.
DDC Clinic’s outreach location in Titusville Pennsylvania is on schedule to open soon. We hope that by January of 2024, the staff there will be seeing patients most every day. The generous support we’ve received for over 10 years now, from the Spartansburg and surrounding communities, have made it possible for us to bring our specialized care to them. We expect a substantial rise in patients from that area, above the several hundred that were already traveling to see our doctors here in Middlefield.
Another expansion of DDC Clinic is our Family Heart Center, officially opening in 2024. These new cardiac services will be housed in the basement of DDC Clinic. We are fortunate to have the necessary space available, avoiding the added expenses of an addition. These services are very much needed to address the substantial increase in genetic heart conditions that we’ve seen in recent years. By bringing cardiologists and specialists here, helps to control the costs for our patient families. Perhaps equally important is to be able to provide care for whole families in the same visit, saving on costs of multiple visits and added transportation for them. We are very grateful to Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation and Cleveland Foundation for taking a leadership role in funding this important project. More funding opportunities are still available and needed.
Did you know that DDC Clinic was started with just $50 collected in an Amish straw hat? In 2002 Dr. Heng Wang moved his young family from Arkansas to Ohio to take the role of DDC Clinic’s first Medical Director. With DDC Clinic being a fledgling non-profit, and only enough money in its bank account for a few months of Dr. Wang’s salary, this was certainly a leap of faith for his family. Today, we have patients from 8 countries, 35 states, and 41 Ohio counties. Yes, right here in the itty-bitty town of Middlefield Ohio. Praise be to God for his great mercy, blessings, and love!
Giving Tuesday is on November 28 this year. To make a donation on Giving Tuesday or anytime, to help children with rare genetic disorders receive the testing, diagnosis, and specialized treatment they need, please use the contact information below. Please feel free to visit or give us a call to find out more about our mission. Thank you for supporting and accepting DDC Clinic in the community! Until next time.
Blessings,
Eli Miller,
Executive Director
DDC Clinic in located at 14567 Madison Road, Middlefield, OH 44062, 440-632-1668
Find us online at www.DDCclinic.org
Since 2000, DDC Clinic has held an annual benefit auction each year to raise funds for ongoing operations. Raising more than $400,000 in each of the last two years, it has become a substantial part of our annual fundraising campaign. One of the many items up for bidding is a building that local Amish carpenter crews donate a good portion of their time to build. Other local lumber and material suppliers will willingly donate a portion of material for this project as well. In 2020 and 2022 the winning bidder was DDC Clinic’s supporter, Pat Preston, owner of Preston Superstore in Burton. The auction building was first offered in 2010 as a 24×24 two-car garage, but per demand, it is now offered as a 36×48 shop/garage building. Preston’s most recent building purchase was customized and increased in size to meet the car dealerships needs. We are grateful for the many crews and companies that came together to contribute to this project.
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Autumn – 2023
Update from the DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
Mission: To enhance the quality of life for people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders
Greetings from your neighbor, DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
The summer has been a busy one here at DDC Clinic. Our first fundraiser of the year, Patchwork Dinner, was held on June 17,2023, at Meadow Ridge Events in Huntsburg. It was a huge success, raising almost $100,000. Many, many thanks to our Non-Amish and Amish sponsors and attendees, and everyone who donated baskets, auction items, etc. We are so grateful for the wonderful support of this annual event!
By the time this is in your hands, two of our benefit auctions for this year will already be history. The Mennonite community in Shiloh, Ohio holds an annual benefit auction for special needs children the second Saturday of each July and have shared a generous portion of the proceeds with DDC Clinic since 2007. In Spartansburg Pennsylvania, the Amish community there and from surrounding communities were planning to have their 11th annual benefit auction for DDC Clinic on Friday, Aug. 4.
Coming up on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, the 23rd Annual DDC Clinic Benefit Auction here in Geauga County is being held, Lord willing, at the Buster Miller Auction Barn, corner of Newcomb and Nash Roads. This is by far the largest of DDCs benefit events, raising more than $400,000 in 2022. The fundraiser starts a few months in advance, selling raffle tickets for five large items, with the drawing being on the evening of the auction. The events for the day will start with a fundraiser breakfast, serving pancakes, biscuits & gravy, sausage, bacon and more, from 5 a.m. till 9 a.m. A separate crew is taking orders from local businesses for barbecued chicken lunch carry-outs. They will prepare and deliver those from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. To place your orders for a delicious lunch, call440-632-1527. The live auction will start at 2 p.m. Items up for bids will be a 32×48 garage/shop building, 16×20 timber frame pavilion, a set of custom kitchen cabinets and hundreds of smaller items. If you have any questions on any of the auctions, please call me, 440-632-1668.
We thank everyone for participating in these events! It takes a lot of effort planning, coordinating, and hands-on labor, but makes for an enjoyable time with great fellowship and fun. The funds we raise represent a substantial part of our income each year. We are truly grateful and humbled by the generous support.
DDC Clinic is a non-profit organization. Since 2002, our physicians have seen patients from eight countries, 35 states, and 41 Ohio counties. Yes, right here in the itty-bitty town of Middlefield Ohio. Praise be to God for his great mercy, blessings, and love! To donate and help children with rare genetic disorders receive testing, a diagnosis, and the treatment they need please use the contact information below.
If you are in the area, please feel free to stop in and visit, or give us a call to find out more about DDC Clinic. Thank you for supporting and accepting DDC Clinic in the community. Until next time!
Blessings,
Eli Miller,
Executive Director
The DDC Clinic in located at 14567 Madison Road, Middlefield, OH 44062, 440-632-1668
Find them online at www.DDCclinic.org
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Summer – 2023
The DDC Clinic, Impacting the World
By Eli Miller, executive director
Our Mission: To enhance the quality of life for people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders
Greetings from your neighbor, DDC Clinic – Center for Special Needs Children!
First, let me introduce DDC Clinic to those of you who don’t know us. DDC Clinic provides compassionate care and translational medicine to people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders. Our staff of 10, works out of a beautiful building in a country setting on Madison Road that was built by the faith, hope, love, hard work and generous hearts of a community that cares for one another and strives to help carry each other’s burden.
Twenty-five years ago, five Amish families and a few non-Amish friends made a two-day trip to Lancaster Pennsylvania to visit a Dr. Morgan and his unique medical clinic that was featured in a Readers Digest story. These families all had something in common. Each of them had a child or multiple children with severe handicaps. The children seemed healthy at birth, but soon after, the parents noticed developmental delays that worsened as they grew older. Upon arriving at Dr. Morton’s clinic, he took immediate interest and spent the next two days with them. However, this wasn’t enough time to find answers to these complex disorders. Dr. Morton told them, “The distance is too far to continue coming here. Go home and start your own clinic that specializes in rare genetic disorders.”
From that initiative, DDC Clinic was born and today, is recognized internationally for its cutting-edge translational medicine and specialized expertise for numerous rare genetic conditions. Most of DDC’s patients are Amish from Ohio and surrounding states, however, non-Amish families have traveled to DDC Clinic from states as far away as Alaska, Hawaii and California, and from foreign countries like the UK, New Zealand, Australia, China and Canada.
Our in-house CLIA certified research laboratory is only twenty steps from our patient exam rooms. This unique approach means faster diagnoses and potential treatments for the patients, resulting in reduced worry, anxiety and medical costs for the families and the community.
DDC Clinic is a non-profit organization. Patients are charged a modest fee for each office visit or other service. However, this accounts for only a small fraction of the funding needed to operate such a medical facility. The rest of our funding comes from generous individuals, businesses, private family foundations and fundraisers.
If you are in the area, please feel free to stop in, or give us a call to find out more about DDC Clinic. Thank you for supporting and accepting DDC Clinic in the community. Until next time!
The DDC Clinic in located at 14567 Madison Road, Middlefield, OH 44062, 440-632-1668
Find them online at DDCclinic.org
