In 1962, the Martinsville-Henry County Women's Club and the Martinsville-Henry CountyMental Health Association combined efforts and formed a committee to assess the educationaland vocational needs of mentally handicapped citizens in the area. As a result of the study,the Martinsville Association of Retarded Citizens was formed.The Martinsville Association of Retarded Citizens (MARC) undertook a three-phase programto meet the primary needs of local mentally handicapped citizens: 1.) Classes for trainable children, which became the MARC school. 2.) A sheltered workshop, which became MARC Workshop, Inc. 3.)A sheltered living facility, which is still in the planning process.

The MARC School opened August 20, 1964 at the First Baptist Church of Martinsville, and continued successful operationsfor five years until the county and city school system assumed responsibility for public instruction of students in need of special education. MARC Workshop, Inc. opened its doors to three individuals in April 1969. (Of the threeoriginal individuals to receive employment services from MARC Workshop, two are still enrolled in employment service programs at the workshop.) The mission of the workshop was and continues to be to provide rehabilitative training and employment opportunities to persons with verifiable disabilities.The workshop has provided teaching, training, and sheltered employment to over 450 individuals, with over 70 individuals eventually achieving competitive employment. MARC Workshop, Inc. is currently serving 66 individuals in employment services, work-adjustment training, pre-vocational services, student-to-work transition services,and brain injury services.

MARC Workshop, Inc. is located at 1005 Jordan Street, with three buuildings in operation at this site, and a warehouse located on the south sideof the city. Since its' founding in 1969, MARC has operated facilities in the former East Martinsville School. The original East Martinsville Schoolbuilding opened for African-American children in the eastern part of Henry County in 1929. In 1948, the city of Martinsville annexed a portion of Henry County,which included the school. In 1958, the Martinsville City Public Schools constructed a second building. The facility closed as a school in 1968,and in 1969 MARC Workshop, Inc. moved into the facilities. In 1985, MARC Workshop, Inc. added additional space to the second building. In 1974, the TultexCorporation gave the organization a 6,588 square foot warehouse, located in the south side area of the city. On September 15, 1999, the MartinsvilleCity Council deeded the East Martinsville School property to MARC Workshop, Inc. The deed conveys to the workshop unrestricted title and absolute ownership of the property.

These facilities were in critical need of renovations, both for modernization of faicilities and to meet service needs of individualsin the Martinsville and Henry County area. To meet these needs, the Board of Directors undertook a campaign to solicit funds for a muchneeded additional building. The fundraising campaign was the first-time in MARC Workshop's history that the public financial support had beensolicited. As a result of a successful campaign, the Lucy Pannill Sale Building, a 7,500 square foot facility, opened in July of 2002