News Release
For Immediate Release: January 26, 2009
Hattie Larlham Care Group Board President
Retires
(MANTUA, Ohio)
Jan. 26, 2009 – During the
final Hattie Larlham Care Group Board meeting
of 2008, long-time board member and Care
Group president Avery Cohen retired. All
of us at Hattie Larlham will be forever
grateful for the dedication of Cohen since
he first became involved in 1966.
He has driven Hattie
Larlham to reach out and touch more lives
of children with mental retardation and
developmental disabilities than we ever
thought possible. Working closely with the
executive/ administration and other board
members, he has helped bring to fruition
their visions, hopes and aspirations.
As an appreciation
for his work, Cohen is now a member of the
Hattie Larlham Board of Emeritus Directors.
An activist for children with disabilities
When Cohen first became
involved Hattie Larlham in 1966, the organization
only served 35 individuals with disabilities.
The average lifespan of a child in the care
of the organization did not exceed six years.
Almost immediately, Cohen and other board
members began a concentrated effort to increase
not only the longevity of those served by
Hattie Larlham, but also to enhance their
quality of life. Procedures and programs
established during his tenure are now benchmarks
for the treatment of people with disabilities.
In the 1970s, when Mr. Cohen became president
of the board, he dedicated his energy and
commitment to growth so that Hattie Larlham
could expand to 135 beds at its main campus.
Then in 1993, Cohen rejoined the board as
president and during the past 15 years,
Hattie Larlham has made the lives of the
children and adults it serves longer, healthier
and more meaningful.
Achievements since 1993
- Expansion of number
of people in Hattie Larlham’s care
from 300 to more than 1,500.
- Expansion of the
budget from $7 million a year to $32 million
a year.
- Expansion of the
medical staff to include one full-time
physician, one nurse practitioner, one
nursing director, one licensed nurse per
unit per shift, a respiratory therapist
and a support staff of RNs, LPNs, and
Habilitation Assistants to allow additional
coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Expansion of services
from almost 100 percent residential to
more than 1,000 people who live outside
of our residential facilities: either
at home, in foster care or other support
facilities.
- Individual achievements
of the people we serve—many can
now walk, engage in numerous activities
and even create their own works of art.
- Creation of “NaturAll”
Outdoor Walkway/ Playground. Now typical
developing siblings can become acquainted
with brothers and sisters who live at
our facility.
- Addition of the
Hattie Larlham Education Wing, a community
school that provides services for children
in kindergarten through 12th grade. The
school exposes each student to grade-appropriate
curriculum via the use of multimedia,
adaptive equipment and a multi-disciplinary
staff.
- Building the Life
Achievement Center, which includes The
Play Center, a universally accessible
7,000 square-foot play area that provides
children of all abilities with a variety
of developmentally appropriate, hands-on
play experiences including big muscle
play, manipulative play, sensory play,
creative arts, and pretend play.
- Initiation of the
Hattie Larlham Research Institute to produce
better outcomes for the populations Hattie
Larlham serves.
- New partnerships
formed, not only in research, but with
other organizations to achieve better
care. Collaborative projects with the
University of Akron and Kent State University
have produced a wheelchair computer handling
tray, improved training staircase and
successful research conferences in 2006
and 2008.
- More than 20 local
and statewide awards given to variety
of Hattie Larlham's personnel and programs
over the last few years, evidence of Hattie
Larlham’s important contributions
to Ohio and the 1,500 people we serve.
About Hattie Larlham
Established in 1961,
Hattie Larlham is a Mantua, Ohio, nonprofit
organization that provides services throughout
the state to 1,500 children and adults with
mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
Hattie Larlham was one of the top 99 Northeast
Ohio organizations to work for in 2008.
For more information, visit www.hattielarlham.org.
###
 cohen.jpg
(365 kb) – Avery Cohen retires from
the Hattie Larlham board of directors after
more than 40 years of service to the organization.
Contact
Bill
Wahl, Communications
and Media Relations
Coordinator
phone: 330.274.2272, ext. 3011
e-mail: bill.wahl@hattielarlham.org
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