 Penrickton
Center is a private non-profit five day residential and
day care agency serving blind, multi-disabled children
ages 1-12. Because no fees are ever charged to families,
all financial support is raised from individuals, service
clubs, corporations, and foundations.
Penrickton Center was established in 1952 by
three families (Penman, Ricker, Wigginton) as a day
nursery for blind preschoolers because no such program
existed. Over the years Penrickton Center has changed to
meet the needs in the community. Currently, we specialize
in treating blind children ages 1-12 with at least one
additional handicap such as deafness, cerebral palsy,
brain damage, developmental delay and mental retardation.
Most of our children stay with us throughout
the week and all children return home to their families
on weekends and holidays. Children under six participate
in our day care program. In both cases an intense program
of training and care is provided to help each child reach
their potential. We also provide a
consultation/evaluation program to serve those families
who may not need our regular services.
All of the blind multi-disabled children we
serve receive developmental programming; that is programs
designed to meet the individual needs of the special
child. This programming includes individualized training
in the areas of self care (eating, dressing, personal
care), travel skills, motor skills, and language
acquisition. Children in our evaluation/consultation
program receive recommendations in this area by our
professional staff.
To help each child achieve his or her maximum
potential requires intensive and personalized involvement
by our staff. Currently we have a ratio of one child care
staff member for each three children. This does not
include ancillary staff such as nursing, social work,
program planning, occupational therapy, dance and
movement therapy.
Volunteers also play an important role at
Penrickton Center. We teach our volunteers how to feed,
bathe and play appropriately with blind multi-disabled
handicapped children. In addition, volunteers asist in
outings to the zoo, parks and on picnics.
Since no fees are ever charged for our
services, we continues to need the support of many caring
people. Penrickton Center for Blind Children is
registered with the Internal Revenue Service as private
non-profit charity 501{c}(3) and with the Michigan
Department of Social Services as a child caring facility.
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