By Their Side History

By Their Side, a charitable non-profit corporation, tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, was established in April 1965, as the Maryland Retardate Trust by the Maryland Association for Retarded Citizens as an answer to the question "When you're no longer here, what's going to happen?". As originally conceived, the Maryland Retardate Trust provided very limited services. Volunteers made semi-annual visits and provided small gifts to surviving children whose parents had made a will provision for enrollment in the Trust.

During the first 15 years only about 30 families participated in the Trust. In 1980, the name of the Trust was changed to the Maryland Trust for Retarded Citizens and a minimum goal of 200 participating families was set to establish a starting endowment suitable for permanent operations. The purpose of the revision was to provide a program that would be available to help families of persons with mental retardation to the extent possible and to provide appropriate extra services on a pay basis. The Family Information File completed by all members in the MTRC was developed so that when a case became active due to sponsor death or incapacity, case monitoring could be initiated. The goal of 200 families was reached in September 1984, when MTRC became a permanent organization.

In 1992, it was determined that a restatement of the MTRC program was required in order to secure the future of MTRC's services. Based on the Restatement, sponsors need to establish a source of funds through: (1) a trust fund, (2) will provisions, (3) insurance, or (4) other sources. These funds will be used to pay for needed services beyond the basic services.

In 2003, MTRC changed its status from a charitable trust to a 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit corporation.

In 2007, MTRC, Inc. took on a new branding and name. Incite Creative, a Communications Design firm, was hired in 2007 to assist MTRC in rebranding our logo for better recognition and to help the Board of Directors with a name change. The Board felt that the name "By Their Side" represented the mission of our organization and our new logo of 2 intertwined black-eyed susans depicted our position of advocacy on behalf of our client base located throughout the state of Maryland.

By Their Side has evolved from providing very limited services to providing extensive case management services for its clients. Families participating in the By Their Side program receive assistance in the planning for their child's future through sponsored estate planning workshops and through educational articles in our newsletter. Families can also contract for private consulting services with By Their Side professionals to develop care plans.

For a complete history, see our timeline.