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Children's Rehab Center Celebrates Expansion
By George NelsonHOWLAND, Ohio -- Every 20 years, the Children's Rehabilitation Center needs to expand, and it was clear the center had again run out of room a few years ago when staff members were performing therapies in the hallways. "Literally, we were starting to burst at the seams and we needed more space," said Maureen Kennedy, rehabilitation coordinator for the Children's Rehabilitation Center.No more. A ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon marked the completion of the most recent renovation, which nearly doubled the center's space. In addition to renovation of the center's existing 14,700 square feet, the project involved a 6,600-square-foot west addition and a 6,300-square-foot east addition. Brigitt Berk of Howland is among those to whom the center is important. Berk brought one of her triplets, Zoe, to the center when she was a year old after it seemed she wasn't developing at the same pace as her siblings. "She wasn't doing anything," Berk recalled. "Now through the help of the wonderful therapists she's walking, talking riding a bicycle, taking steps and joining in with her family in regular activities." Now 5, Zoe, who has mild cerebral palsy, was one of two Children's Rehabilitation Center patients who cut the ribbon at Thursday's ceremony. "It's a miracle and this place will always be in our hearts." Last year more than 600 children were treated at the center.The pediatric outpatient facility serves children from birth through age 18 who suffer from disabilities such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and other neurological disorders. Services include occupational, physical and speech therapy, counseling and group programs for children with disabilities, Kennedy said. The center also offers a daycare program and collaborates with facilities that provide education group programs, including Fairhaven and Potential Development.Funds for the expansion project were raised by a committee co-chaired by Steven Lewis, First Place Bank president, and his wife, Jill. A month ago, all but $300,000 had been pledged toward the $1.85 million project, an amount since cut to $59,000. So far more than $1.2 million has been collected."Our goal is to provide what we call in our business a wraparound-type service for our children, a one-stop place for families to come for whatever needs their child may have," said Bob Foster, executive director of the Children's Rehabilitation Center. Founded in 1957, the center underwent its last major renovation more than 25 years ago, he said. The recent project enabled the center to add five new classrooms, double the size of the physical and occupational therapy rooms, completely renovate each of the speech language pathology treatment rooms, and add an autism program. Foster praised the work of project architects Baker, Bednar & Associates Inc. and Jack Gibson Construction Co. for their work on the $1.85 million project, which began a year ago. "Without their flexibility, without their help in terms of letting us do what we do here during construction, it would have been very difficult for us to complete this project," he said. "We simply could not stop providing services to these special children that we have here. They're too important to us and too important to the community.""