ORANGE PARK — Twenty-five years ago, the Dye Clay Family YMCA welcomed a new addition that would surely live up to its name. 

Ahead of its time, the 2,400 square-foot building made a large impact on everyone who walked through its doors. BASCA co-founders Jo and Tony Knott made sure of that. 

Daystar was their brainchild, a place to honor and protect the lives of disabled individuals like their daughter Rhonda. To this day, the building acts as a non-profit center for severely disabled adults.

Physical therapy, arts and crafts, recreation, music classes and community service projects fill the days of all who attend. 

It’s like paradise for those with special needs and their families. To celebrate its profound history and future, the center hosted a Hawaiian-themed anniversary party.

Jo said the inspiration for the building came from her then-23-year-old daughter who was born with severe brain damage. Once Rhonda left public school, Jo said she and her husband wanted to provide Rhonda with a program that she could attend. 

Adults with disabilities are able to participate in physical therapy, arts and crafts, music classes and community service projects.

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A partnership with the First Coast YMCA gave birth to the center at Dye Clay and, later, the Jennings-Daystar Center at Barco-Newton on Fleming Island. She said those are the only two in the U.S. 

Eric Mann, CEO and president of the First Coast YMCA, was in attendance and said the center is the perfect example of having a servant’s heart. 

“When you do things unselfishly to serve the community, you see the benefits that happen because of it,” Mann said. “This is a place that brings happiness, brings joy. But it also serves the community in a way that so many people don’t understand, but the YMCA is so proud to be a part of.”

The Daystar Center is the only YMCA program of its kind in the U.S.

STAFF PHOTOS BY KYLA WOODARD

Many of those who supported and donated to the center 25 years ago were in attendance, including former COO of the First Coast YMCA Jeff Boyer.

Boyer said he has been there since the beginning and seeing where it is now and the lives it’s touched is amazing. 

When Boyer met the Knotts, they bonded over the lack of programs in Clay County that catered adults with special needs. Boyer said in witnessing the life of his sister, who had a severe disability, it inspired him to get involved. He said the center provides a respite for not only the adults but their families. 

“It gives them a break from the day in, day out kind of thing. And I know how important that was to my parents,” he said.

The Eulenfeld family said that their daughter Alyssa attended the program for over 20 years after she graduated high school. 

Going to work, lunch with friends, shopping, swimming, movies you name it. The Eulenfelds said everyone has a place they want or need to go, and the center provided her with the opportunity to participate in whatever she was capable of doing.

Daystar was Alyssa’s place to go. 

“She owned it."

Tony and Jo Knott lead the charge to make a difference in the community and lives of many individuals. Jo said she’s happy that so many years later, it still remains true. 

Although Rhonda and Tony have both passed away, she said their legacy lives on in Daystar.

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STAFF PHOTOS BY KYLA WOODARD