Laura
08-14-2008, 09:29 AM
http://www.silive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1218108629215310.xml&coll=1
Autism center to get $2.3M in funding, BP says
Thursday, August 07, 2008
By EMMA DUMAIN
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- At a celebratory press conference yesterday, Borough President James P. Molinaro announced that $2.3 million from his Fiscal Year '09 capital funding would go toward helping autistic children and their families.
Eden II, Staten Island's only center to offer a full-time school alongside comprehensive educational, extracurricular, and home-stay services to individuals affected by autism, will be the recipient.
Of the total, $2.2 million will go toward funding a larger space to house the center, making it easier to accommodate more students and provide more services. The remaining $142,000 will help fund the creation of new computer labs and the implementation of a document storage system.
"We have a moral responsibility to help these boys and girls," Molinaro told a crowd of Eden II teachers, board members, and families. "What's going to happen to them when their parents can no longer care for them? Sometimes, I see more care given to dogs and cats than to human beings."
Joanne Gerenser, executive director of Eden II programs, accepted the check on the organization's behalf. The funding couldn't have come at a better time, as the rate of children diagnosed with autism has skyrocketed in recent years -- and with that, the demand for services.
"One in 150 children in this country have autism," said Ms. Gerenser, citing a statistic from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "What's going to happen when one in 150 children become one in 150 adults? They are growing in a tidal wave throughout the state, country, world.... It's going to cost a fortune to help them and we are not prepared."
Eden II was founded in 1976 by a small group of parents who wanted to establish a facility in the borough for their autistic children. Since that time, the center has become a resource for more than 200 students, with waitlists of up to four years. The new building, which should be up and running by September 2009, will help serve roughly twice that number.
Staten Island has seen the growth of other organizations dedicated to mainstreaming individuals with autism over the years, such as Thursday's Child, the G.R.A.C.E. Foundation and On Your Mark. But Eden II's exceptional reputation and need for funding moved Molinaro to help.
"They have the most dynamic programs, they've been around for a long time, they have a huge success rate with children who go there ... they should have every opportunity to increase their progress," he said. "I wish I could have given them more."
Emma Dumain is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at dumain@siadvance.com.
©2008 SI Advance
© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.
Autism center to get $2.3M in funding, BP says
Thursday, August 07, 2008
By EMMA DUMAIN
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- At a celebratory press conference yesterday, Borough President James P. Molinaro announced that $2.3 million from his Fiscal Year '09 capital funding would go toward helping autistic children and their families.
Eden II, Staten Island's only center to offer a full-time school alongside comprehensive educational, extracurricular, and home-stay services to individuals affected by autism, will be the recipient.
Of the total, $2.2 million will go toward funding a larger space to house the center, making it easier to accommodate more students and provide more services. The remaining $142,000 will help fund the creation of new computer labs and the implementation of a document storage system.
"We have a moral responsibility to help these boys and girls," Molinaro told a crowd of Eden II teachers, board members, and families. "What's going to happen to them when their parents can no longer care for them? Sometimes, I see more care given to dogs and cats than to human beings."
Joanne Gerenser, executive director of Eden II programs, accepted the check on the organization's behalf. The funding couldn't have come at a better time, as the rate of children diagnosed with autism has skyrocketed in recent years -- and with that, the demand for services.
"One in 150 children in this country have autism," said Ms. Gerenser, citing a statistic from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "What's going to happen when one in 150 children become one in 150 adults? They are growing in a tidal wave throughout the state, country, world.... It's going to cost a fortune to help them and we are not prepared."
Eden II was founded in 1976 by a small group of parents who wanted to establish a facility in the borough for their autistic children. Since that time, the center has become a resource for more than 200 students, with waitlists of up to four years. The new building, which should be up and running by September 2009, will help serve roughly twice that number.
Staten Island has seen the growth of other organizations dedicated to mainstreaming individuals with autism over the years, such as Thursday's Child, the G.R.A.C.E. Foundation and On Your Mark. But Eden II's exceptional reputation and need for funding moved Molinaro to help.
"They have the most dynamic programs, they've been around for a long time, they have a huge success rate with children who go there ... they should have every opportunity to increase their progress," he said. "I wish I could have given them more."
Emma Dumain is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at dumain@siadvance.com.
©2008 SI Advance
© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.