metro >> on the cover
Spreading The Love
Oakwood Center for Exceptional Families in Dearborn
benefits from a Jewish Fund grant.
Esther Allweiss Ingber I Contributing Writer
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and
genetic syndromes.
The award was made possible largely
through the leadership of a Jewish
Oakwood Healthcare System (OHS) execu-
tive. While "Jewish" and "Dearborn" are
words not commonly associated with one
another, they come together in Maureen
(Lullove) D'Agostino, senior vice president
of organizational excellence, accreditation
and compliance at OHS. She helped to
establish the CEF and is its acting execu-
tive director. Tonia Victor, development
director at the Oakwood Foundation, is
also Jewish and has led CEF campaign
efforts since 2006. (For other Jewish offi-
cials at OHS, see story on page 12.)
The Jewish Fund, established in 1997
through funds from the sale of Sinai
Hospital to the Detroit Medical Center,
has distributed millions in grant funds to
organizations throughout southeastern
Michigan.
Primarily Jewish organizations and proj-
ects have been recipients during the Fund's
15 years, but it's not unusual for leaders to
award grants to worthy recipients outside
the community, such as OHS.
When the Jewish Fund announced
grants to 14 organizations in May 2012,
six were Jewish. Also in May, continu-
ing requests were approved for 10 more
organizations, among them were Hebrew
Free Loan, Jewish Dental Clinic and Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. (For
information on the Jewish Fund's latest
grants, see story on page 11.)
Margo Pernick, Jewish Fund executive
director, is among the leaders who met
with D'Agostino and Victor to tour the CEF
facility and learn more about the distinc-
tive services offered.
In making the award, Pernick said, "The
Jewish Fund is very pleased to support
the CEF. We believe children with special
needs, and those without, benefit by truly
understanding the value of all people,
including those who differ from them-
selves, through shared and meaningful
experiences:'
The comprehensive, multidisciplinary
clinic provides a "continuum of care" for
children from birth to their adult years
and attracts patients of diverse faith back-
grounds from 12 counties in southeastern
Michigan, the northern Lower Peninsula
and Ohio.
10 November 29 • 2012
JIN
Susan Youngs, M.D., has fun during a physical exam with a young patient at the
Oakwood Center for Exceptional Families.
"The program is recognized for offer-
ing a full range of medical and auxiliary
services in the same building," D'Agostino
said. Families can see doctors but also
utilize social worker counseling, tutoring,
physical therapy, speech therapy, occupa-
tional therapy and other services.
New families get an initial 90-minute
appointment with a medical provider and
social worker to explore their needs and
eligibility for services, and to meet other
members of the team. The time families
spend at the center can range from an
hour to a full day, with Oakwood Hospital
and Medical Center-Dearborn available
across the street for overnight medical
rechecks when necessary.
"Some of the services are not covered
by insurance, but are so vital to the mis-
sion of the CEF that we can't afford not
to provide them," said Victor, who is now
leading the center's $10 million endow-
ment campaign. "The program relies heav-
ily on philanthropy, and we are grateful
for the Jewish Fund's commitment to this
unique and special program:'
Working To Include
Oakwood's Center for Exceptional Families
has been enhanced through its six-
year partnership with the University of
Michigan-Dearborn School of Education's
Early Childhood Education Center, which
is located at CEF. The collaboration has
created "a more inclusive health and learn-
ing environment for children with and
Maureen D'Agostino near the plaque
honoring the Jewish Fund grant at
Oakwood's Center for Exceptional
Children in Dearborn
without disabilities, future teachers and
clinicians," said D'Agostino.
At the U-M ECEC, typically develop-
ing children interact with special needs
children, resulting in a change of per-
ception about disability. The approach
helps "teachers of the future learn how to
work with students in their classes who
are physically and mentally challenged,"
D'Agostino said.
The Jewish Fund's gift to the Inclusive
Therapeutic Recreation Program will
expand the partnership between the CEF
and U-M ECEC. The Fund's initial pay-
ment of $30,418 on Sept. 2 is being used
to provide additional group activities to
accommodate more children and addi-
tional staffing for the program.
A rapidly growing body of evidence
maintains that play is central, even
critical, to childhood development. Yet
approximately 10 percent of children in
the United States have a disability that pre-
vents them from using or enjoying most
recreational activities with their peers and
siblings in conventional school or play-
ground settings. CEF strives to help chil-
dren with disabilities to overcome barriers
by offering adaptive physical and social
recreational activities at the center.
The partnership between CEF and
UM-D allows patients to interact with
peers within their disability community
and also with typically developing peers in
the context of inclusive programs and play
opportunities.
Therapists strategically utilize play
therapy techniques to help children
without verbal capacity to express their
thoughts and feelings about what is trou-
bling them. In therapeutic groups and
camps, therapists help children learn more
adaptive behaviors when there are emo-
tional or social skill deficits, or to promote
cognitive or motor skill development. All
children, including those with disabilities,
can improve their skill sets given adequate
opportunities; for example, to belong to a
sports team or dance troupe, or simply to
meet others socially.
Tammy Morris, clinical program
manager at CEF, said, "The tremendous
generosity of the Jewish Fund allows us
to both extend our therapy efforts and to
offer inclusive therapy opportunities by
providing inclusive preschool social skills
playgroups for preschoolers with special
needs; Summer Therapy Camps, such as
SportZone and Feeding Frenzy, for kids
with a variety of special needs; and fitness
groups:'
Serving The Family
Family members are affected by children's
disabilities as well, noted D'Agostino, so
"part of our program is to see how parents
are doing. Such as, if Mom is not sleep-
ing at night because her child has severe
spasms, we help her get through. We also
address the social and emotional needs
of the siblings of children facing special
healthcare challenges:'
CEF medical director Susan Youngs,
M.D., can "send a child with a physical
disability to a fun fitness group or summer
Spreading The Love on page 12