Rich Center launches $6M campaign

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Paula & Anthony Rich Center for Autism is launching a 2020 capital campaign: a $6 million fundraising initiative that will allow the school to expand its footprint.

It needs the community’s help to make that happen, its leaders say.

The Rich Center has provided hundreds of area families with education and treatment for children with autism, but it needs to expand its capacity to meet the growing need.

The school operates on one floor of Fedor Hall on the Youngstown State University campus and enrolls more than 70 students, ranging from 2-1/2 to 19 years old.

It has only one restroom for boys, one for girls and one for its 60-plus staff members. Of its five therapists, three share a space for speech and pathology services. Some classrooms double as supply storage with shelves packed full of materials.

Plans include: updating and expanding classrooms; adding restrooms; adding a dedicated wing with individual office space for supervisors; behavior analysts and therapists; and renovating a lower level space to feature a life skills lab with full kitchen, demonstration area and laundry facilities.

Additional plans include a sensory room for the center’s older students, as well as renovating the nurse’s office.

The Rich Center already has received a $1 million donation from YSU, as well as a $1 million donation from an anonymous source.

The center will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday on campus. It’s free and open to the public.

Staff will be present to provide tours as well as answer questions about the Building for Tomorrow Capital Campaign. Refreshments are included. To attend, call 330-941-1927 or email Bergen Giordani at blgiordani@ysu.edu.