A Business Created to Serve the Community

By Scott Ashton
You only have to spend a few minutes with Joshua and Rebekah Van Orden to understand why they started their business, Oceanside Therapy Group. It's impossible to not recognize the passion they have for family and children. Since December of 2009, Oceanside Therapy Group has provided a much needed "one stop shop" for Pediatric Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, mostly for children of military families.  

Prior to opening their own business, Rebekah was working as a speech language pathologist in Chula Vista and Joshua had just completed his licensing to become a financial advisor with Edward Jones.  Around this time they had their first child, a daughter, and Rebekah took 6 months off from work to be with her. When the six months were over, Rebekah found that leaving her daughter to go back to work was not an option for her. 

The Van Orden's decided they would open their own business together in order to preserve their time together as a family. Not wanting to compete with the company that had employed Rebekah, the Van Orden's decided that they should start their search for a business location in North County. Due to its proximity to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Oceanside was a natural fit for them.  

They opened their first office, a 500 square foot facility, on South Coast Highway in Oceanside and Rebekah saw her first patient in December 2009. What started with just one patient, twice a week, quickly grew to the point where the Van Orden's needed to hire an additional therapist just 4 months later. They quickly outgrew their location and moved to 3355 Mission Avenue where they currently have 9,000 square feet, with 17 therapists and 5 administrative staff members, serving 300 clients, 85% of which are from military families.  

Oceanside Therapy Group primarily services children under 10 years old with a variety of developmental delays including Autism, Down syndrome, Spina Bifida, Apraxia (a motor planning disorder), feeding disorders and basic speech disorders.  

Joshua and Rebekah attribute their success to great therapists, the personal touch that they and their employees give to their customers and the warm atmosphere of their facility, which becomes essential when many of their customers are in the office for several hours each week. 

The Van Orden's recognize their therapists are a major factor in their success. "We've done a good job finding great people.  It's all about the families and all about the kids." They have found therapists who share their vision of putting the children and their families first; and consequently, the turnover in therapists is almost non-existent. According to Rebekah, "they only leave us if they move out of the area." 

The future looks bright for this business as they recently expanded into additional suites to build a state of the art gym. They have consulted with numerous local therapists in the planning to make sure it will be the best possible resource for the families they serve. 

Their love and passion for the families they serve is evident in speaking with Joshua and Rebekah, as they shared stories of the lives that have been changed by their work.

Each summer the staff of Oceanside Therapy Groups holds a family fun day with jump houses, balloon artists, games and a delicious barbecue at Luiseno Park in Oceanside. In addition to being a great day of appreciation for their clients, the event allows patients the opportunity to see their therapists in a fun setting. 

Oceanside Therapy Group sponsors a team in the annual “ACT Today” Autism Walk in San Diego to help raise funds for military families with Autistic children. They are also supporters of Oceanside’s Armed Forces Day Appreciation Event.  "Oceanside has been good to us and we want to give back.”