A few years before she purchased Kidsource, Penny Jester worked at the facility part-time, helping with evaluations and parent training while she finished graduate school. She eventually left her part-time position to pursue her career as an elementary school teacher. 

When Penny looks at kids, she thinks about their potential, what kind of person they will grow up to be, and how they can make the world a better place. Penny thought being a teacher would be the perfect way to help kids develop and become their unique selves.

However, her thoughts soon changed. She didn’t like spending time on paperwork; she wanted to help struggling kids. She also realized that kindergarten was too late. These kids had challenges at home and needed help sooner, in a much bigger way.

Corey was a microbiology student with a master’s and two bachelor’s degrees in science. After spending a few years in a basement lab at the VA, he realized this wasn’t the career for him. He wanted to work with people in a cheerful and bright environment. He also wanted to do what would make him the happiest: working with kids, not microscopes.

So he went back to school to become a physical therapist. During his internship for the PT program, Corey met a fellow therapist, Penny Jester. Corey enjoyed working with the kids at the clinic, but he had not quite found that joyful environment he had hoped for. The walls around him were white, and the atmosphere felt sterile. 

When his internship ended, Corey worked as a contract therapist for schools, but he could not stop thinking about the perfect opportunity he had dreamed of and knew was out there. Fortunately, one day he walked outside and saw a former co-worker. As he and Penny caught up, the pair realized they had witnessed the same shortcomings in clinic settings they had worked. They longed for a place where parents could drop their children off all day and families would be educated on the best way to help their children. They agreed that if they were truly dedicated to helping kids, they would have to find ways to engage the entire family.

Corey and Penny knew they could not continue working in settings that left them feeling like they weren’t living their true calling— educating and empowering kids and their families to live their best lives. So, in 1999, Penny and Corey took a huge leap of faith and started working to build a clinic that embodied their values by working in partnership with kids and families.

22 years later, Kidsource is thriving with 8 locations and 165 amazing therapists who share the same vision as Penny and Corey.