A Letter from: Dr. Caroline Gomez, Director

Dear Friends:

Every 15 minutes another child in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder with lifelong implications. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in every 150 children in the U.S. has autism. In Georgia, the number is 1 in every 125 children, much higher than the national average.

After diagnosis, families begin the desperate search for answers to their children’s challenges. These families who face the forever of autism have inspired relentless optimism in those working to raise funds and build the Autism Hope Center (AHC) in Columbus Georgia.

The vision for the state-of-the-art Autism Hope Center is tremendous because the need is tremendous (see Vision Insert). However, the lack of a permanent facility has not kept us from beginning to provide services to those in need. Columbus organizations have offered the AHC space and resources to begin providing services in Phase I of the Master Plan (see Insert). Services are currently being provided at the Bradley Center, the Pediatric Clinic, and Columbus Technical College. A number of other services and programs are also on the horizon and hold great promise (see Master Plan Insert).

For those who live with autism, life often becomes more about surviving that thriving. I invite you to help us change that reality as we build the Autism Hope Center. I also invite you to consider providing support for programs and services that are so desperately needed and being provided by the AHC in your community today. No donation is too small to those in such great need.

Best Wishes,

Caroline Gomez