Heartspring groundbreaking signals hope

Shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Heartspring begins a new era.

A groundbreaking ceremony for a planned expansion will offer hope to more families in the region.

“Families filled with fear and anxiety contact Heartspring every day looking for a place for their children, but because of our lengthy waiting lists, we have to tell them to wait months or years until their children can have access to the life-changing programs Heartspring offers,” Heartspring president and CCO David Stupay said in a news release.

Heartspring, 8700 E. 29th St. in north Wichita, is a worldwide center for children with special needs. It offers a residential school, pediatric services and autism services and training, said Stacie Williamson, director of development at Heartspring.

The events Tuesday will be the beginning of several projects that will be ongoing at the same time. The first is to add a new group home, which will house 12 children.

Next will be expansion of the pediatric services building to combine both pediatric services and autism services under one roof while creating more therapy space.

The cafeteria and current group homes will be remodeled.

All of Phase One is expected to be completed by Dec. 31.

In Phase Two, Heartspring will get a new building for its Competitive Integrated Employment and music programs.

“That’s job skill training for the students,” Williamson said. “Every child who comes through Heartspring leaves with at least one employable skill, if not two.”

Currently, Heartspring has 65 students from 10 states: 57 residential and eight day-only students.

“Our goal one is to eliminate waiting lists and reduce the time it takes for children to receive our services,” Williamson said. “Goal two is to develop multipurpose spaces that are designed for us to expand if further growth is necessary and flexibility to meet changing programming demands.”

Heartspring currently averages about 500 therapy sessions per week and up to 550 children per month.

“We anticipate an additional 75 children to be seen per week with the expansion by adding 90 new therapy slots per week,” Williamson said.

The autism services are expected to see a 25 percent increase in capacity.

“Our hope is that one day we will be able to say yes to every single family that comes to us for services and give them the hope and opportunity they are seeking,” Stupay said in the release.

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Heartspring groundbreaking signals hope."