Opened in October, the site had its grand opening Dec. 16 to welcome anyone interested in learning about the agency’s mission and programs.
According to Executive Vice President Helen Stepowany, Upstate Cerebral Palsy has four residential homes in Madison County: one in Canastota, one in Morrisville and two in Hamilton. The new site provides a place for the 21 individuals of those homes a place to gather and then go out into the community.
“They leave the home, report to the program and from that go out into the community,” Stepowany said. “I think that helps create a great quality of life.”
Kathy Klosner, senior vice president for adult services, said that the individuals do a lot of community service.
“They’re working on socialization, preparing for jobs later on. It’s a great group of people,” she added.
In working with Madison County, the Route 20 corridor had been identified as an area that could benefit from greater services, Stepowany said.
“It really was looking at this great community, that there was need and we wanted to respond,” she said.
Next door to the day habilitation center is the Kelberman Center that provides autism services. Stepowany said that the Kelberman Center has been expanding for the past three years so it was only right to bring a specialty of autism to Morrisville as well.
Stepowany said that the agency worked in conjunction with the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
“This was an opportunity to help with them something they needed done and create new services in this part of the county,” Bill Bird, Director of Office of Community Support for Central New York Developmental Support. “It’s a good location and the right time.”
Stepowany said that it’s too early to tell about the future of adding other sites in Madison County.
“Right now we’re interested in what families tell us they need and respond to their needs,” she said.
For more information on the Kelberman Center visit kelbermancenter.org or for more information on Upstate Cerebral Palsy at upstatecp.org.
