Hope Academy for Autism in Youngstown attempts to raise desperately needed funds

By Bruce Walton

bwalton@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Hope Academy for Autism high school’s director, Kimberly Clinkscale, said a school is just like a house: You’re more functional in it when it’s clean and comfortable.

It’s a luxury for the academy on North Lakeview Avenue to have things such as leveled gym floors or insulated windows.

It’s also the greatest reason Clinkscale and the academy opened a GoFundMe account to fund-raise for a large renovation project for the building.

“With the GoFundMe account, we’re just trying to get out there and tell our story and hope that somebody will be able to say, ‘I want to help.’” she said.

Clinkscale set the GoFundMe account up together with Tammy Bailey, human resources/community liaison of the academy, in early December. The goal is to raise $30,000, but so far, they’ve raised only $10.

Because government funding can only keep the academy afloat, they’ve also tried to get grants and awards to help. Those things, however, take time, that the academy can’t wait for much longer.

The Hope Academy provides an environment and development for students within the autism spectrum and other learning disabilities to address their individual needs, according to its website. The academy in Youngstown holds 30 students from high schools in seven districts. It’s the second addition to the academy’s main building in Warren, which houses 50 students from elementary schools.

The academy’s Youngstown building was bought at a relatively small price of $45,000. That price came with the catch of the building being a fixer-upper from the start. The academy already put a lot of work into renovating the building with new paint, installing an alarm system, remodeling the kitchen and furnishing the classrooms. The building was built in 1926, and its age shows in the amount of damage and deterioration.

The ceiling in the gym leaks, lots of tiling is chipped or loose, some of the walls in the hallway have water damage from leaking pipes, there is no air conditioning, little heating and an unfurnished basement that cannot be used for recreation. Cellophane is on a window in the stairwell as makeshift insulation.

All of these problems make for a difficult learning environment, Clinkscale said, especially when the students already have learning disabilities.

Bailey said it could mean the world to the students if their building could have the money to renovate.

“I want [the students] to have a school they’re proud to attend every day,” Bailey said. “It gives them a sense of pride and lets them know that they are special.”

In the future, Clinkscale also hopes to build their own stadium for students to practice for sporting events.

The GoFundMe account page is at www.gofundme.com/sheperdsofallgodschildren.