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Heritage Center ribbon-cutting signals the opening of a new chapter

Grand Island Dispatch, August 31, 2007

An enthusiastic group of about 100 family members, community leaders, administrators and caregivers gathered at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 24, for the grand opening of Heritage Center’s newest group home for the developmentally disabled, located at 1464 Baseline Road.

“This is a home,” stated Michael Gross, executive director of Heritage Centers, and it is one that was two years in the making. “Six young people are starting a new chapter in their lives.”

Gross further explained to the gathering that the four young men and two young women had lived most of their lives at the Deaconess Center on Humboldt Parkway. While they had received good medical care for their disabilities caused by cerebral palsy, their new home would certainly stimulate their growth, health and interaction with their families and the community.

“We are seeing the re-emergence of the families,” Gross said.

“The (Department of Environmental Conservation),” Gross said, “was very instrumental in coming up with creative ways for us to build on this site.” He also thanked the Grand Island Town Board for moving the project along.

      
Heritage Centers’ new group home on Baseline Road in Grand Island had its official grand opening ceremony on Aug. 24. On hand to cut the ceremonial ribbon were officials from Grand Island town government, including council members Gary Roesch and Mary Cooke and Town Supervisor Peter McMahon. Bianca, right, a resident of the facility, and her family were there to help swing open the doors to her new home. Also present at the event and not pictured were Councilman Richard Crawford and Town Clerk Pattie Frentzel. (photo by Kathy Duff)

The result is truly a homelike atmosphere with a living room, kitchen and brightly decorated bedrooms with stuffed animals and quilts that make the medically necessary hospital beds look very much like beds in which anyone would sleep. Concrete ramping for wheelchairs was placed inside the garage attached to the 3,400-square-foot house. This arrangement eases loading and unloading of wheelchairs into and from Heritage’s van, but also leaves the front of the house looking like any other in the area.

Patricia Murray, a physical therapist at the Center for Retarded Children, attended the ribbon-cutting because two of her clients, Jimmy and Bianca, are making the new building their home. She remarked, “This is just so beautiful, and we are so excited.”