Neurological center looks to add new wing

BURKETTSVILLE - An organization that has provided free therapeutic services to neurologically impaired children and adults for more than three decades is looking to add a wing to its facility.

The Center for Neurological Development is campaigning to raise $1.1 million to demolish an outdated section and replace it with a new wing to house the kitchen/cafeteria, an enhanced speech department, additional office space, handicapped accessible buildings, laundry room and basement.

"We look forward to the completion of this project so that our patients can continue to experience a safe, efficient, comfortable setting in which to carry out their therapy," said David Kaiser, who serves as treasurer for the center's 12-member board of trustees.

Trustees of the non-profit, tax-exempt center determined it was time to address the aging section.

"Last year it became evident to the board that the original 1930s section of the building was in dire need of major repairs," Kaiser said, pointing out the leaking roof, the rusty lintels above windows and the cracks in the brick walls.

It would cost more than $300,000 to put on a new roof, replace the bricks and waterproof and tuck-point the building, he said.

"That does nothing to address the issue of an aging and inefficient heating system or the original plumbing which is corroding."

Trustees decided money would be better spent by demolishing the section and adding a new 4,500-square-foot wing with a 1,500-square-foot basement to the west end of the facility, according to Kaiser.

The center receives no state or federal funding. It is financed entirely though donations from businesses and individuals.

Trustees started their fundraising campaign earlier this year, focusing on corporate sponsors. So far, more than $400,000 has been raised. Now they're reaching out to small businesses and local residents to help meet their financial goal.

Kaiser said trustees still hope for a six-figure donation or a benefactor to come through big to complete the campaign.

"We have been received so graciously by area business and personal leaders and appreciate the support provided to the center," campaign chairwoman Renee Purpus said. "Ultimately, I feel that the cognitive and neurological care affects our local economy. What a wonderful resource to benefit from when an unforeseen circumstance occurs."

After years of traveling to the Piqua Neurological Center, Ed and Sally Werling and Leroy and Teresa Heyne realized Mercer County needed a similar facility for people of all ages dealing with the aftermath of accidents, strokes, birth defects and other problems.

The neurological center began operations June 11, 1984, at the former St. Peter School near Fort Recovery, with three patients and 11 volunteers.

Today the center, consisting of seven full-time and four part-time paid employees, provides therapy five days a week to about 70 patients with assistance from more than 300 volunteers. It primarily serves Mercer, Darke, Auglaize, Shelby and Jay counties.

Although adequate for the first 18 years, the center outgrew the former school building. The neurological center's board purchased the former Burkettsville school building from St. Henry Consolidated Local Schools for $1. They spent more than $100,000 on improvements, and many businesses, industries and individuals donated supplies and labor, and the facility opened Dec. 3, 2002.

A generous donation from the estate of Joan Forrest in November 2007 paved the way for a 2,800-square-foot addition to the center, featuring a large therapy room complete with an in-floor trampoline and a long carpeted area where clients can exercise.

Center director Joan Kiser explained the center's therapeutic method, pointing out all human brains develop through movement. The center guides its patients "back through those early stages of movement," she said.

Numerous therapies and exercises are used, including patterning - the repeated manipulation of body parts - which center officials believe stimulates normal motor development activities and helps repair damaged brain tissue.

"We have so many brain cells that we never use," Kiser said. "They were never activated. So those are the cells we're going after. That's why we put our patients back through the early stages of movement."

"Babies have to roll, they have to crawl," she continued. "Nowhere in the world does a child develop without going through those."

Kiser said the center's therapy methods have had an impact on patients.

"They've got one person focused on them for two, three hours," she said. "Plus, a lot of what they do needs more. You can't give somebody all that attention and not improve to some degree."

The center will accept any person who has brain or spinal cord related injuries and afflictions, Kiser said.

"Our biggest (causes) would be head injuries from car wrecks and strokes," Kiser said.

The center has accepted patients from out of state and even out of country, she noted.

"A dad drove his son here for a year and a half from Marysville, Ohio, just because there aren't many centers," she said.

The young man, Kiser said, moved out of the nursing home to live independently in an apartment.

"We've had about five or six young adults come here after car accidents and actually get off disability and go back to work. A couple of them went on to get married and have families," she said.

In a fundraising campaign video, former patient John Wolters of Mercer County spoke of how the center helped him get his life on track after he'd suffered a severe head injury in a motorcycle accident in 1990 when he was 23. Wolters said after the accident he was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was in a coma for eight days. He said two months later he was released home, where he had to learn how to do everything over again.

"I had poor balance and I could barely walk, but my biggest problem was my short-term memory loss," he said, noting the impediment kept him from returning to work.

Four years later, he learned about the center and began therapy.

"I was able to get off disability and go back to my former work as a truck driver. The center changed my life," he said.

Today, Wolters said he is an owner/operator with several trucks and trailers.

"Our community is blessed for having this organization available," he said.

People interested in donating can send a check, payable to CFND Building Fund, to Center for Neurological Development, 78 W. Main St., P.O. Box 117, Burkettsville, Ohio 45310.