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Students at the Blind Childrens Center, such as Mary (left) and Karen will have more room to learn and grow through an upcoming expansion project. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on April 20.
Photo courtesy of the Blind Childrens Center.
Beverly Hills Press
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Blind
Childrens Center Embarks on Expansion
Project Will Enable
Facility to Accommodate
More Students
By Amy Lyons
Students in search of a little more elbow room at the Blind Childrens Center will soon have their needs met. On April 20, the center will break ground on a $900,000 expansion project that will include more space for the newly added class of first graders in the 2008-2009 school year.
In addition to adding two new classrooms for the first graders, the expansion will provide new kindergarten space. The center serves more than 100 children and their families every year from infant, preschool and kindergarten, to the newly added first grade program.
Twenty-three percent of the children are totally blind, while 25 percent are partially sighted. Of the 52 percent sighted children served by the center, the majority are siblings of the visually impaired students.
The majority of families come from working, low-income households who get both on-site and home-based services free of charge. The Blind Childrens Center is funded entirely by private philanthropic support. There is no financial support from federal, state, or local governments. Volunteer workers and fundraising events are crucial to its survival.
Executive Director Midge Horton explained that the expansion is designed to upgrade and add space to the aging building.
“The building was built in 1950 to accommodate 30 children, and we now have 60 to 75 children here on any given day, so we really need the space,” Horton said. “Our students sometimes have wheelchairs and walkers, so that takes up space as well. We are also seeing more multi-impaired students.“
Horton went on to say that recent cuts to education funding could create an influx of students at the center.
“The budget in the public system is just so depleted,“ Horton said. “With our program, there is no charge to the families and we get no state or federal funds, so it’s a viable alternative, but we have limited space.“
The groundbreaking will include an appearance by celebrity-athlete and long-time friend of the center, Tom Sullivan. Sullivan has been a friend and supporter of the Blind Childrens Center for more than 29 years. He is the author of “Adventures in Darkness,“ a book about his childhood struggles with blindness. Sullivan was born blind.
Cher Serhal, a parent whose three-year-old son is served by the center, will also be at the groundbreaking. Serhal enrolled her son, William, in the center when he was five months old. William is not completely blind, but is visually impaired, with 80/20 vision.
“It was really hard in the beginning to find services for a visually impaired baby,“ Serhal said. “When I found the center, I felt like I was home. They have been helping and guiding both me and my son since 2005.“
Serhal said the expansion project is a crucial step for the center, where she said space is limited. She hopes William will continue as a student in the center through first grade.
“By expanding into the primary grades, the children will benefit so much,” Serhal said. “There is a huge hole in the public system, so the more children served by the center, the better. I hope my son will go to first grade at the center. The constant exposure that they give to the kids there is so valuable, and they don’t let them get away with not trying.”
The Blind Children’s Center is located at 4120 Marathon St. Call (323)664-2153.