The holiday season is quickly approaching, and here at Lighthouse Autism Center we are already focused on how we’ll give back to our families, employees, and community.

Families:

In November, we will host our biannual “Parent’s Day Out” where Lighthouse Autism Center remains open on Saturday with staff who volunteer to give their time to our families. Parents are invited to drop off all of their children – and not just those who attend our center – and take the evening to do some holiday shopping, go to a movie, or simply relax. As a parent of a child with autism, I know how welcome and appreciated this is by our families.

Employees:

Employees will have the opportunity to participate in an all-staff Christmas Party at the Oaks. This allows employees from all of our centers to come together and enjoy a potluck dinner, music, games and prizes. After a year of hard work and dedication to our center and the children we serve, it’s our goal to recognize our employees and show them how appreciated they truly are.

Community:

Finally, we feel it is important to give back to our local community during the holiday season. We will continue our tradition of adopting several families in need and providing gifts and essentials for them through what we call our “Giving Tree.” Employees and families at all centers come together to purchase clothing, food, household items, toiletries, toys and gifts. We wrap and deliver these items to our adopted families in an effort to give back to those less fortunate.

Hannah and Friends Annual 5K Run and Walk in South Bend, IN

Lighthouse Autism Center sponsored and put together a team to participate in the annual Hannah and Friends 5K Run and Walk in South Bend, IN. Each year, Hannah and Friends, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness and compassion for those with different abilities, hosts the walk and run in order to raise funds for there many programs that benefit children and adults with special needs.

This is  the fourth consecutive year Lighthouse Autism Center has sponsored and participated in this event. It is something we look forward to every year and our staff are always excited about. It is a great opportunity to give back to other organizations within our community and support their various missions. We are excited to continue this tradition of sponsoring this event, and are looking forward to it next summer!

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!

Each year, Lighthouse Autism Center works with local organizations to give back to families in need. This year, all four centers in Mishawaka, Warsaw and Plymouth came together to give back to two local families. LAC staff and families purchased various items from skateboards to dishes and bath towels to give to these families. We recently dropped off these gifts to one of the families and they were absolutely overjoyed. Their children were at school and they couldn’t get over how excited they would be to get home and see the transformation from a tree with no presents, to a tree overflowing with gifts. For their children who still believe in Santa, Santa had come a little early this year and it will truly be a Christmas to remember for them. We would like to thank all of our staff and families who participated this year – without your support and generosity we would not be able to keep this tradition going!

The Lighthouse Autism Center is now open in Plymouth. Located at 1550 Pidco Drive, the center officially opened on August 18, one year after the community call-out meeting in 2014 that led to its development. It’s always been our mission to bring quality ABA services to those that need them. We’ve now done that in Plymouth with the help of the entire community. Currently, the center assists eight families in the area, and will eventually serve eighteen families. We look forward to continuing our work in Plymouth so we can keep bringing services and assistance to families with autism. The credit for the incredible amount of work that made the new center possible goes to many dedicated people. They include our founders, Gregg and Sandy Maggioli, the entire Lighthouse Autism Center staff, and most importantly, our friends and partners in Plymouth. Without the support of local parents, families, teachers, advocates, and organizations, opening the center would not have been possible. We would like to especially thank Penny Hines, the Collins Family, ARMC, JESSE, and Crossroads Church. Your support and generosity were central to making the Plymouth Lighthouse Autism Center possible. Our staff invites parents and families interested in learning more about Lighthouse and ABA services to come in for a visit. We welcome the opportunity to show how we can make a positive difference in your lives.