When families with children with autism are seen, heard and valued, their children benefit. That’s the future of autism care in Greenwood, with the announcement that nonprofit Project Hope Foundation will open a new location on the Greenwood Genetic Center Partnership Campus.
With locations throughout the Upstate, this is a first for Project Hope: a chance to build a facility from the ground up, tailored to the needs of the children the organization serves. Project Hope currently operates out of a temporary building in Greenwood and has nine locations throughout the Upstate, with a timeline for construction still being determined.
Susan Sachs and Lisa Lane are co-CEOs of Project Hope Foundation. The two founded the organization in 1997 while seeking services for their own children. Sachs said the relationship between Project Hope and Greenwood Genetic Center has become a true partnership over the years, and this expansion of services is part of the collaboration that helps expedite diagnosis and services for children with autism. Project Hope provides a lifetime of customized services for the autism community, where early diagnosis and intervention are critical.
“Autism is diagnosed based on certain criteria that cover the spectrum – problems with social communication and challenges with repetitive behavior and insistence on routine – but that manifests itself at different levels of support,” Lane said. “When you get a diagnosis, you also learn what your level of support needs are, but even within each of those levels, of course, everyone is a unique person. They have their own interests, their own strengths, their own processes and their own challenges.”
Deepening cooperation with regard to families
Project Hope Foundation will build on 12 acres in Greenwood, expanding its ability to support families in the area.
“We opened this campus in Greenwood in 2016 and we offer individual therapy there,” Lane said. “Through that, we’ve also developed a really good relationship with the school districts there. We’ve been able to develop an innovative situation where we kind of share students – there are students who start with us in therapy and then can be integrated into school with our support. We also offer consultations where we work with teachers to help students across the school district. It’s a really wonderful relationship and one that we’d love to replicate in other places and have – we have one now with Laurens and starting in Anderson, which has allowed us to expand our reach.”
Parents can be introduced to therapists and other parents of autistic children immediately – “You can leave here with information, but also with hope. And as a parent and as someone who works for Hope, it’s pretty exciting for me to be able to give back quickly to these parents so they know what the next step needs to be for their child,” Sachs said. “The most exciting thing about this to me is that when a child gets a diagnosis at Greenwood Genetic Center – and there are many of those every year – when they hear the word ‘autism,’ they can respond immediately by saying, ‘Right across the street is Project Hope Foundation.'”
Lane said the collaboration between the organizations helps families save valuable time. And the benefit is mutual, as researchers and those who support and fund their work know the work of Project Hope and the children they help every day.
“We want them to see what autism looks like and get to know some of the people behind the statistics,” Lane said. “The Greenwood Genetic Center has such a great reputation nationwide and across the state. If the legislators get their proposals passed, we’ll be another piece of that information so people can get a better sense of what money can do when it’s invested in this community.”
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to stay there and engage with this community because it’s not just our voice, but also the voice of the Greenwood Genetic Center and some other partners on campus who will be getting to know the issue of autism much better with us,” Sachs said.
Learn more
Project Hope Foundation is the largest nonprofit autism service provider in South Carolina with nine locations. Project Hope’s programs include therapy (ABA, speech and occupational therapy, family counseling), education (accredited elementary school for grades K5-12 and support in 30 local public/private schools), adult services (day programs, group and individual work, in-house digital textile printing), and community engagement (presentations, workshops, trainings). For more information, visit projecthopesc.org.
We celebrate the 50thth In its 15th anniversary year, the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing medical genetics and providing compassionate care to families affected by genetic diseases and birth defects. The center has offices in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, and Greenville. For more information, visit ggc.org.
