(Chelsea Update would like to thank Joe Yekulis for the information in this story.)
To support St. Louis Center’s (SLC) school age children during the pandemic, complementary grants were written to three different funders to support a children’s in-house education program.
In September, the Center was awarded two grants. The Jenkins Family Foundation contributed $10,017.50, which will provide 20 Chromebooks and children’s sensory toys to facilitate learning.
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has granted St. Louis Center $65,000 to cover the cost of a paraprofessional and for networking infrastructure upgrades to continue to support the educational needs of the students here at SLC.
The paraprofessional education specialist will work with the children for the next 12 months, as the pandemic has limited access to school and outside activities. The paraprofessional will develop an education curriculum tailored to the needs of each child, including creating lesson plans, securing needed supplies and working with other staff and children directly to implement their lessons. S/he will also coordinate with teachers and principals to ensure that the lessons correspond to school curriculum, and provide support so that direct care workers, social workers and supervisors can focus more directly on the emotional and daily care needs of the children.
This will ensure that children are not losing ground educationally or cognitively during the pandemic by securing educational resources appropriate for children with I/DD at various cognitive levels to remain engaged and not “lose ground,” while unable to attend school.
Additionally, this week St. Louis Center was also notified that it will be receiving a $200 grant award from the 5 Healthy Towns Foundation to purchase supplies that will help engage resident movement through its Evening Activities program during the week.
St. Louis Center is grateful to all of these funders for helping to ensure that the children don’t fall behind during the pandemic.
For more information about St. Louis Center, please visit www.stlouiscenter.org, or call 734-475-8430.
St. Louis Center is a residential care facility for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities currently celebrating its 60th Anniversary.
