Pennsylvania Farmhouse to be renovated and turned into autism support center
Becky Wineman-Pekar is a nurse and mother of a child with autism. After her father died a year and a half ago, leaving to her his farmhouse and its three surrounding acres, she decided to renovate the property and turn part of it into an autism support center. The farmhouse will need to have asbestos removed before it can be renovated for her family to move into; it is big enough that it may, one day, be converted into a group home for autistic adults where her son Alex could live.
If Wineman-Pekar gets the insurance approval she needs, Wineman Farm Outreach will open in January 2010 to offer support groups, educational presentations and blood draw clinics for children with special needs. Kids with special needs often have sensory issues and need to be restrained during blood draws. The outreach center would provide a homier environment with soft lighting and numbing cream for the needle site to make blood draws less traumatic. In the future, she would also like to add a dietary supplement co-op, camp outs, outdoor social activities and a program that would help churches to better serve the special needs population. Wineman-Pekar has submitted a nonprofit application for the outreach, which is still pending.
For the full story, go to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
