Monday, December 16, 2013YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Potential Development Brighter Futures Autism Academy will receive $125,000 from the Hine Memorial Fund Thursday. The fund is a component of the Youngstown Foundation.
During the ceremony, to be held at the new high school on Market Street, The Hine Memorial Fund will present the agency with $100,000 to support the renovation of the new high school’s model apartment, fitness room and fine arts learning center. The Youngstown Foundation will award Potential Development with a $25,000 grant to support renovation of two classrooms.
The Potential Development Brighter Futures Autism Academy, a nonpublic charter school, opened its doors in late September as one of only three high schools of its kind in Ohio. It provides education and therapeutic services to teens with autism from Mahoning, Trumbull and Portage counties.
“The funding will help defray the cost of the renovations and help us to meet a previously unmet need within the Mahoning Valley,” said Paul Garchar, executive director at Potential Development Program.
At the Potential Development’s Brighter Futures Autism Academy, students have the opportunity to graduate, earn their diplomas and develop skills essential to leading a more independent life, Garchar said. The new 30,000-square-feet campus allows easy access for families in surrounding areas, accommodating students in grades 9 through 12.
The Hine Memorial Fund, established by Elizabth Hine Cates, is a component of The Youngstown Foundation. Her desire to help for disabled children, combined with a tradition of giving instilled by her parents, led her to establish The Cecil Dwight and Elizabeth Woodruff Hine Memorial Fund in tribute to them. Since 1976, more than $40 million has been invested in nonprofit agencies in the community who share this mission.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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