GLCA Key Accomplishments
Great Lakes Collaborative for Autism 2006 – 2011 Key accomplishments
- Funded and conducted community wide family and provider needs assessment
- Established as a key autism advocate organization in the community
- Significantly expanded autism awareness and financial support for community services
o Assisted in initiating and securing federal funding for University of Toledo Center for Excellence in Autism
o Since 2006 GLCA has supported 18 different organizations in NW Ohio with over $600,000 in funding based solely on GLCA fundraising campaign Give Autism the Boot
o Has provided over $100,000 in scholarship money to various organizations that have allowed families the opportunity to benefit from services they otherwise would not have access to.
o In addition, GLCA has initiated and led the efforts of other local organizations to provide funding (i.e. fundraising campaigns, grants, etc.) resulting in additional $1 million+ funding for programs and services for NW Ohio
- Developed GLCA website which provides service provider information, access to training materials for families, fund raising
- Built awareness regarding community needs in the area of autism resulting in the development of a community center for Autism at ProMedica as well as additional early intervention program.
- Funded grant that allowed for Autism related medical research at UT
- Initiated new programs and services including:
o Provided funding to assist the CHIP program to grow from a part time intervention to a full time Early Intervention Program, the first of its kind in NW Ohio.
o Assisted in the development and execution of an after school program for children with autism 12-22 years, the first of its kind in NW Ohio
o Assisted in the creation and funding for Agility Angels, a program that uses agility dogs to assist children and adolescents with autism in communication and social skills.
o Initiated relationship with Perrysburg Schools to start a trial program of training teachers/intervention specialists through the Cleveland Clinic to implement behavior plans in the classroom and implement typical peer mentoring groups in schools. Intent is to duplicate program in additional school districts throughout NW Ohio.
- Instrumental in creating awareness at the Federal level by developing a strong relationship with Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.
- Developing GLCA brand as working collaborative with strong community support, initiatives, and services with key proponents in Michigan and Indiana.
- Initiated collaborative project to increase service capacity by providing the area with 10 additional Board Certified Behavior Analysts (an increase from 2-12) by facilitating the training of 10 analysts.