We are excited to announce that on August 24, after over two years since first walking the desired property, Little Friends closed and acquired its new home for our schools and Center for Autism in Warrenville. After talking about this for what seems forever, we are fortunate enough to take action and move forward as an organization with a facility. Located on Diehl Road literally adjacent to the northern border of Naperville, we have found new space that when the renovations are complete by late December will provide us with capacity to more than double in size.
While it is troubling that the demand for what we do is growing, the good news is that we will have future capacity to support more children from our communities experiencing Autism, Intellectual/Developmental, and Emotional disabilities. While the journey of selling our Naperville campus continues down its process for approval, it is exciting to take this next step that ultimately positions our organization for a long future.
Through generous donations, we are also excited to share that we’ll be implementing some of the newest technology to help children on the Autism Spectrum. Digital presentation systems, application software, and even robots related to helping with developing communication skills are part of the new programming we’ll be implementing with the new facility. More announcements will be made as we get closer to moving.
While the interior will have no less than 25 classrooms to start, the entire facility will be accessible for children who may be experiencing physical difficulties. Not only will the interior be accessible, but our current design includes outdoor playground equipment that will accommodate the needs of children using wheelchairs and other assistance. This is something we’ve not been able to easily do, and our new facility will encompass over 74,000 square feet all on one level.
A lot of work lies ahead as we begin this next step as an organization. We are not only excited to share our good news, but incredibly appreciative of the support that has been provided by so many during our time pursuing this dream.
I would be remiss not to express our thanks for all of the help that so many of you have provided us. We not only appreciate it, but look forward to being here as a resource to help those individuals in need for the many years to come.
