DuPage Community Foundation Awards $15,000 Grant to Marianjoy Pediatric Continuing Ca...( WHEATON Ill. Aug. 7 -- ...),Health

WHEATON, Ill., Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The DuPage Community Foundation has awarded Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital a grant in the amount of $15,000. The grant is specifically targeted for Marianjoy's Pediatric Continuing Care Program, which offers group classes for children with physical or developmental disabilities or delays. These classes are used to help children gain and improve their motor, sensory, play, communication and social skills, thereby encouraging success in the classroom and in the community. The grant will help offset the registration fees, especially for underserved children from low income families.

The Marianjoy Pediatric Program treats children with disorders and diseases such as autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, brain injury and other diagnoses. The classes that are offered through the Pediatric Continuing Care Program include sensory language and play groups, aquatic therapy, handwriting readiness classes, and groups focused on swallowing and eating disorders. These recurring 8-week classes are designed to help strengthen and reinforce skills gained during individual therapy sessions, while providing coping skills children need to manage larger, more demanding settings, such as school or community participation.

"Our goal is to help a child thrive mentally, emotionally and socially," states Ginny Girten, supervisor of the pediatric program at Marianjoy. "Parents look to Marianjoy for our exceptional physical, occupational and speech therapies. They then enroll their children into our group classes to help practice the hands-on skills, reinforcing what they've already been taught during their one-on-one sessions with our therapists."

Currently Marianjoy underwrites sixty-five percent of the program costs for the families it serves. Though many of the families are able to pay the initial $80 fee for a session, the economy and financial
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