HOWLAND Children's Rehab Center to open $1.9 million addition

About half the money pledged has been collected.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- The Children's Rehabilitation Center staff expects to move into a new addition to its Howland-Wilson Road facility by the middle of next month.
The expansion, which includes two classrooms, several offices and two large, multipurpose spaces, is the first phase of a $1.9 million construction project.
Future phases include the renovation of the current building; demolition of a portion of the facility, which was adapted from a house; and construction of an east wing.
"The original intent of the expansion is to provide more room for physical and occupational therapy," said business manager Dominic Mancini.
Began in 1951
The Children's Rehabilitation Center began as a project by the Rotary Club of Warren in 1951 and evolved into the Trumbull County Society for Crippled Children in 1957, with participation of the Niles Rotary Club.
The center offers speech, occupational and physical therapy for children up to 18 and preschool and after-school programs.
The new west wing classrooms will allow children to work more with others their own age, Mancini said. Now, infants and teenagers sometimes are working in the same classroom on physical therapy, which involves large-muscle groups, and occupational therapy, which is for fine-motor skills.
The center moved to Howland-Wilson Road in 1969 and last was expanded in 1982.
CRC offers physical, occupational and speech therapy and day care to more than 500 children each year, regardless of their parents' incomes. It receives funding from United Way and Trumbull County Lifelines.
Fund-raising drive
Most of the money for the construction, about $1.5 million was raised through a 2002 fund-raising drive. About half the money pledged has been collected, Mancini said.
The organization plans to solicit the rest of the money needed from a small number of major donors, he said.