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| Ron Cohen Appointed to the North LA Autism Regional Task Force |
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Members of the California Senate Select Committee on Autism (ASD) and Related Disorders, have appointed Ronald S. Cohen, President and CEO of UCP to the North Los Angeles Autism Regional Task Force (NLAARTF). The task force will be making recommendations to State Senators Alex Padilla, Carol Liu, Fran Pavley and Darrell Steinberg on many different aspects that the autism community faces.
Dr. Cohen will chair the sub-committee on housing, which is comprised of ten members. The members were chosen based on their expertise in this field.
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The goals of the sub-committee are to recommend solutions to the senators regarding lack of affordable housing for people with autism and other developmental disabilities. The committee will discuss numerous challengeswhen developing affordable housing such as city and tax codes, lack of funding and the time it takes to complete these types of projects.
UCP is the largest provider of affordable, accessible housing for the developmentally disabled community in CA. Our 11th apartment complex, based in Glendale, will be open early 2010.
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Record Attendance at the Special Children's League Holiday Luncheon |
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One of UCP's auxilliary groups, the Special Children's League of the South Bay (SCL) had their annual Holiday Fundraising Luncheon, which benefits United Cerebral Palsy. Over 280 guests came to the Palos Verdes Country Club on Friday, November 20th to enjoy a festive afternoon.
The afternoon entertainment was provided by the students from the UCPlay Project, UCP's special creative enrichment program for children with special needs. The surprised guests were treated to a Sugar Plum dance and an Earth, Wind and Fire rendition (click here to view the performance). The UCPlay Project students were from Sunrise Preschool in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District and over 20 students participated in the creative workshops for a total of eight weeks.
The ladies of SCL have been hosting this luncheon for over 50 years and this particular year had record breaking attendence.
We would like to thank the SCL ladies for their many years of support and to the UCPlay Project students for a great performance. |
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| Canine Companion Dog Visits UCP Parent Support Group |
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The children were invited to join their parents at a recent UCP Westside Parent Support & Advocacy Group (WPSG) meeting to welcome Michelle and Cole Massie, the proud owners of Ilia, an ASPCA award winning Canine Companion dog. Ilia has been with Cole, a child with cerebral palsy (CP), for over five years and accompanies the 11 year old to all his activities. Ilia supports Cole, both physically and emotionally, with every day tasks, and has truly become part of the Massie family. Cole’s dream is to one day walk Ilia all by himself.
The WSPG, which meets nine times a year, was created for parents with children with CP to provide a supportive environment where they can discuss their experiences and challenges of raising a child with CP. Guest speakers are often invited to provide information about local resources.
For more information about the WPSG, contact the co-facilitators, Terri Lantz at tlantz@ucpla.org or Donna Sheanin at dsheanin@ucpla.org.
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2nd Annual UCP Food & Toy Drive
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For the month of December , UCP has been collecting non-perishable, nutritious food and new toys at the corporate office in Woodland Hills. This is the Second Annual Food & Toy Drive. The donation of toys is going to a local Toys for Tots drop off center, and West Valley Food Pantry is receiving the food for local distribution.
A special thank you to all the staff members that have contributed to the drive, your participation is appreciated. |
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