Family-Centered Development

Offers day, evening, and Sunday programming through the Chevra Program to support social and personal development for individuals with developmental disabilities, with services available six days per week.

Provides one-on-one community habilitation services in homes or community settings to support skill development for independence, including household chores, public transportation navigation, and self-feeding. Services are tailored to both children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Provides community integration services including volunteering, recreational activities, food preparation support, and field trips to locations in the New York area, designed to promote independence and experiential learning for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Operates a weekday day habilitation program for adults with developmental disabilities, offering structured activities focused on independence, community inclusion, and social development. The program includes individualized development plans and operates at a facility in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Runs a Mini Day Camp at the end of each summer for children and youth with special needs, offering structured activities, community integration opportunities, and recreational programming.

Provides early childhood education and individualized services for children with emotional, speech, and learning disabilities, including support for foundational independence and developmental skills. This program is one of the largest of its kind in New York City.

Offers respite care services for families and caregivers of individuals with developmental disabilities, available in-home or at alternate locations for several hours or days, providing temporary relief from caregiving responsibilities.

Operates one of the largest Sunday and school holiday programs in New York City for children with special needs, providing structured, educational, and recreational activities including field trips and holiday-themed experiential learning to promote peer socialization and respite for families.

Generates local employment opportunities and provides financial stipends to classroom hosts as part of program operations, maintaining between 60 and 80 jobs annually and distributing $405,000 in 2024 and $300,000 in 2025 in classroom stipends.

Provides hands-on science instruction, weekly swim lessons through the Whale Tales program, science kits, and family engagement initiatives as part of the summer learning curriculum. These enriched supports are integrated into daily programming to promote academic and personal development.

Designed and implemented the Summer 2020 Family Support Initiative (FSI) to adapt programming during the pandemic, ensuring continued engagement and support for families during a period of disrupted in-person services.

Has served increasing numbers of students since 2011, from 325 students in summer 2011 to 1,512 in 2018, with adjusted enrollment in subsequent years, including 260 students in summer 2025. The organization scaled to serve over 1,500 students across 23 sites and 100 classrooms at its peak.

Runs summer learning programs at multiple community-based locations in Rochester, including Adams Street R Center, Baden Street Settlement, Friendship Children's Center, Generations Child Care, Ibero Early Childhood Center, Pamela & Trenton Jackson R Center, Little Hearts Child Care, and Rochester Childfirst Network.

Provides high-quality, tuition-free summer academic programming for students from under-resourced communities in Rochester, NY, with a focus on early learners and incoming kindergarten students. Programs include instruction in literacy, numeracy, science, and social-emotional learning, delivered across multiple community-based sites.

Serves nutritious meals to students during the summer program, providing 16,800 meals in 2024 and 15,600 meals in 2025 as part of its commitment to student well-being and food security.

Recruits and engages partners from colleges, universities, private schools, suburban school districts, and child-serving agencies to support and expand summer learning initiatives across the Greater Rochester region.

Partners with 142 agencies across 15 states and six countries to deliver and scale ParentChild+ programs, supported by outreach content, tools, and technical assistance.

Conducts research to assess fidelity to the ParentChild+ model and to generate evidence-based data on program efficacy, including impacts on school readiness, special education placement, and high school graduation rates.