SARASOTA – A medically fragile population is perhaps one of several groups on the Suncoast not making headlines, but perhaps we still need to know about them.
“I think that when you hear all the narratives in the news, you’re hearing about K12 and typical kids,” The Haven’s Vice President of Education, Alison Thomas, said. “You’re not hearing about special needs populations. You’re hearing about people in nursing homes. But again, there’s a whole subset of this incredible group of people that I feel like is being ignored and I think that’s very powerful, and we need to change the narrative to be more inclusive”
Since the 1950s The Haven has been serving children, teens and adults with special needs across several programs.
They work with local partnerships and donations to facilitate education, financial services, and medical help.
“We have a little boy here that is starting to walk, he’s four, and that is so huge,” Thomas said. “We were so excited. He started taking his first steps a few weeks ago. And, now he’s home for a month-and-a-half with no therapy, and it breaks our hearts.”
As of March 13, all Haven’s programs are shut down except Residential.
They’re currently running at a $60,000 deficit per month. So, The Haven is reaching out to the Suncoast.
“We need the support of our community to be able to sustain what we do, so we can continue to provide services for people with special needs throughout our community,” Thomas said.
Thomas says they normally serve about 600 people a day but are now only serving the 50 residents on campus.
On top of that, they had to lay off some of the team, which Thomas says is devastating.
“The only reason we are able to do what we do is because of the incredible work of our team,” Thomas said. “There’s nothing that will substitute the face-to-face that we get with our clients and the incredible people that work here for The Haven.”
Still, Thomas is hopeful.
“66 years will not be defined by this moment, we’re going to keep going,” Thomas said.
The Haven is part of the April Giving Challenge on April 28th and 29th.