After nearly a year of planning, meetings and construction, the expansion at Lighthouse Autism Center in Warsaw is finally complete. The center is bigger and better than ever, and, we can now serve even more families in the Warsaw area.

We opened the Warsaw location in July 2013 after many families, doctors, and autism advocates requested us to do so. With no other ABA Therapy providers in that area, Lighthosue flled a much needed gap in autism therapy services.

Since then, we’ve enjoyed the support and kindness of the Warsaw community. We’ve also been able to help some pretty wonderful kids and their families. As demand grew for our services, it soon became evident we would need mroe space and more therapists to continue providing ABA Therapy in Warsaw. So, we began an expansion and spent a great deal of planning, time, and resources to make it happen. Now, just under three years after, our expansion is complete, giving us two additional therapy rooms, a bigger playroom, and an indoor swing.

“This expansion is something that we’ve been discussing for quite a while, and it’s great to see it finally coming to fruition,” said Executive Director Gregg Maggioli. “A lot’s gone into the expansion and were excited to be able to assist even more families in the Warsaw area than before.”

The expansion will allow us to grow from serving 7 families to a total of 12 families, with kids from ages 2-12 attending. We anticipate hiring five more therapists from the Warsaw area to accommodate additional children enrolling. Should we find the need for our services continuing to grow, we will consider further expanding to meet those needs.

With the construction complete, we’d like to thank the BowenCenter, WJ Carey Construction, and the Lighthouse staff in Warsaw for their help and patience. “Now with this expansion, we have even more resources to continue offering hope for every child and every family in Warsaw,” said Gregg.

April was Autism Awareness month, which made it an extra special time for those of us in the autism community. To celebrate, we participated in several fundraising events while also collecting donations for the Lighthouse Families First Foundation. The LHFFF allows us to help special needs children, adults, and their families outside of Lighthouse’s capabilities by giving 100 percent of the money raised to help those we assist.

On April 15, the Lighthouse staff volunteered at the annual Hockey 4 Life tournament. This group of civic-minded hockey enthusiasts raises money each year with their weekend-long event, which includes hockey games, a silent auction and a raffle. We helped keep score during the tournament while also passing out information on Autism Awareness to participants and spectators.

One of our Mishawaka Lighthouse Autism Center neighbors, Evil Czech Brewery and Public House, also promoted Autism Awareness to their customers throughout April. This included “A Night of Awareness” on April 21, which we co-hosted with  Evil Czech for the second time. On that night, Evil Czech donated 10 percent of all its sales to special needs families in the northern Indiana area. The event raised over $2,200 that will go directly to helping families in the area.

We can’t thank these groups, businesses and all those who participated enough for their compassionate generosity and support. Because of you, we’re able to make a positive difference in the lives of special needs children or adults and their families.

This past Thursday, Lighthouse Autism Center hosted a Happy Hour for our Mishawaka employees at Bar Louie near the University Park Mall. These happy hours are hosted several times each year for all of our centers as a way to treat employees and thank them for their hard work and dedication. This is a great way for staff to relax, socialize, and get together outside of work.  We like to think this is just one of many things that sets us apart from other employers.

Our next happy hour will be next month in Warsaw at BW3’s for all of our Warsaw center employees!

This week Executive Director, Gregg Maggioli, met with the President of Arkos Design, Jeff Anglemyer, and head of Business Development, Ramona Kauffman. As part of their 10 year celebration, Arkos Design collected donations for four local organizations – one of them being the Lighthouse Families First Foundation. With the staggering amount of children being born with autism, and his own personal connection to someone with autism, Jeff said he know that the Lighthouse Families First Foundation would be one of several organizations they would support.

Jeff and Ramona had the opportunity to tour Lighthouse Autism Center and learn more about how exactly their donation would make a difference in the lives of special needs families, whether it would be through scholarships, communication software, special equipment, etc…

It is only through the generous donations of individuals and businesses like Arkos Design that the Lighthouse Families First Foundation is able to fulfill its mission of assisting special needs families. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the entire Arkos Design Team for their support!

2015 has been an exciting year for Lighthouse Autism Center. We celebrated three years of service in Northern Indiana, celebrated the one year anniversary of our third center, and opened a new location in Plymouth, IN. We have grown to a staff of nearly ninety and now serve nearly fifty families in the Northern Indiana area. Among those families, there were nine children who transitioned back to school – wow!

Furthermore, Lighthouse founders Gregg and Sandy Maggioli created the Lighthouse Families First Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping families with special needs. Over $30,000 was raised for the organization this year and as a result, families who could otherwise not afford therapy or communication devices for their children, were able to receive these crucial things.

We could have never guessed when Lighthouse started that this is where we would be. It is incredible to think of how much we have grown and how many families that we have been able to assist in Indiana. It is our hope to continue to bring ABA therapy to communities that need it and we plan to continue to spread that mission in the new year!

Each year Lighthouse Autism Center hosts a company Holiday Party  where employees from all four locations can come together for a night of fun and camaraderie. Staff are each invited to bring a dish for a potluck/family style type dinner. Music plays, gifts are given, and all employees are recognized with a gift from Lighthouse. Perhaps the most anticipated part of the evening is when we do the family readings. Prior to the party, we invite parents to send in a letter telling us how LAC has impacted not only the life of their child but of their entire family. We then choose several of these letters to read to all guests at the parties. It is a time for us to truly reflect on the good work of our employees and the deep impact they have on the families we assist.  We would like to thank the Oaks at SouthPaw Farms for helping us to host a wonderful event, as well as all of those who made it possible. We are already looking forward to the party next year!