PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Center for Autism, a nonprofit evaluation and treatment center for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), announces the plan and timeline for the expansion of its Grant Avenue location. A $1 million Economic Initiative Grant (EIG), which was awarded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in late 2014, is funding the development. The project will take place in two phases, the first of which will include a 15,000-square-foot renovation to be completed in late spring 2016. This increase in space will allow the Center to offer services at its Grant Avenue location that are currently only available at the Ford Road location.
“The renovations at our Grant Avenue site will allow us to meet the increasing need for ASD services in the Philadelphia community,” said David M. Maola, CEO of The Center for Autism. “We will continue to grow as the need for evaluation and outpatient services increases in the community. This expansion will have a significant impact on the breadth of services we provide and will directly affect hundreds of ASD individuals for years to come.”
The EIG grant will assist in funding a grand total of 18,500 square feet of renovations to be completed by the end of 2016. As a result of the project, The Center for Autism will serve twice as many clients through a combination of Pre-K, First Friends, Social Competency and Saturday programming. The Grant Avenue location will also support 240 evaluations annually, formerly exclusively available at the Ford Road headquarters. To sustain the growth of the Grant Avenue location, The Center for Autism will create positions for 45 full-time and 21 part-time employees throughout the next year.
In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the prevalence of autism in 1 in 45 American children, an increase of more than 300 percent since 2000. The Center for Autism has evolved to treat the increase in ASD individuals, but as more children are diagnosed each year, in addition to those entering adulthood, there remains a dramatic need for services in the Greater Philadelphia Region. Many of the area’s service providers are beyond capacity, which forces families to postpone diagnosis and initial treatment. The expansion of The Center for Autism’s Grant Avenue location will provide families with resources and treatment options presently unavailable.
For 60 years, The Center for Autism has remained a trusted resource in the Philadelphia ASD community. For more information on services at both Center for Autism locations, visit www.thecenterforautism.org.
About The Center for Autism
The Center for Autism was founded in 1955 by renowned child psychiatrist Bertram A. Ruttenberg, M.D., and is the oldest specialized autism center in the nation. Operating as a nonprofit organization, the Center provides evaluation and treatment services to over 1,500 individuals and families each year at two Philadelphia locations. The organization also provides consultations to professionals and organizations throughout the Delaware Valley. For more information, please visit www.thecenterforautism.org.
