UCP of Central Arizona’s Laura Dozer Center in North Phoenix is celebrating 20 years of service in the Valley this March. Located at 19th Ave. and Pinnacle Peak, the Laura Dozer facility has provided physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapy to thousands of children and hundreds of adults who have been part of the facility’s day treatment center since opening in 2003.

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The center was originally built thanks to the generosity of Rich and Karie Dozer, Valley philanthropists who focus their giving on many causes including health and human services for the underserved in Arizona. Through their leadership, the Dozers brought together many community partners, including Jerry and Joan Colangelo of the Phoenix Suns, to secure the resources needed to build the new center. The campus, named after the Dozers’ late daughter, Laura Grace, was designed specifically to meet the needs of children and adults with disabilities and their families.

“I feel like UCP is one of the Valley’s greatest kept secrets,” said Karie. “Our journey began when Laura was about 18 months old. We took her to a UCP facility in Central Phoenix where the therapists were over-the-top amazing, but the facility was small and not very inviting. I still remember wishing the facility was brighter and bigger. So, we set our minds to it and made it happen. Now here we are, 20 years later.”

The need for the Laura Dozer Center was driven by the increasing need to provide therapeutic services to Valley children and adults with disabilities. In 1992, service hours at UCP of Central Arizona were roughly 27,000 hours a year. In 2001, before the Laura Dozer facility opened, the demand for services increased to 153,000 hours annually. Today UCP of Central Arizona continues to grow. In 2023, service hours at the nonprofit organization’s two Valley locations exceed 250,000 hours annually for all programs combined and the need continues to climb.