Adaptive Movement Center hosts grand opening event
Cash Stephen, 4, steals notes from his mother Lacey Herbert-Stephen before the ribbon cutting of the Adaptive Movement Center.
There was talk and a few tears at the grand opening of the Lacey Performing Arts Center Adaptive Movement Center in New Philadelphia, but it was the happy faces of the children in attendance that conveyed the impact the extra-curricular facility for people with specials needs will have.
Big smiles were seen on Jaxon Douglass, 2, of Gnadenhutten; Olive Miller, 2, of Dover; Aiden Maurer, 4, of Dennison; Jett Stephen, 5, the son of Lacey Herbert-Stephen and her husband Josh; Mila Ridgway, 5, of Gnadenhutten; and Drexel Friend, 4, of New Philadelphia. The children were just a few of those using the equipment at the new facility.
Lacey Herbert-Stephen credited her son Cash Stephen, 4, who was diagnosed with autism, for allowing her to see an unmet need in the community.
“Cash is the inspiration for all of it. He’s going to now have a place where he and his peers can grow up together and be safe and have friends of their own, to be able to just have a community and to have somewhere to go,” Herbert-Stephen said at the Sept. 16 ribbon cutting and grand opening of the facility located at 117 S. Broadway.
Herbert-Stephen thanked the center’s sponsors for helping to get the center open in only one year. Previously, she thought it may take up to five years to get the specialized facility open.
Sponsors included ProVia, the Rainbow Connection, Mount Hope Auction, Progressive Foam, Dover Hydraulics, Superior Clay, Authentic Church, New Philadelphia VFW and Tuscarawas VFW, which were platinum sponsors.
Other organizational sponsors included Shenanigans, Wendy’s, Ohio Laser Wellness, Hog Heaven, Florida International, Dover Moose, Simpson Salute, JW Cookson, Papa Johns of New Philadelphia and Uhrichsville, and the JNG Grill.
Many individual sponsors also were recognized at the event including Frankie Poorman, a student at the Adaptive Movement Center, and his sister Gabby. Frankie Poorman donated money from the sale of his 4-H goat last year to the center. The siblings will both donate again after this year’s fair, and they will each have a goat and chickens for sale.
Introduced to the crowd was Riley Sprague, who owns Pieces with Purpose in Carrollton along with her mother Renee Sprague, a business that employs people with special needs. Pieces with Purpose made the shirts for the grand opening event and will continue to make all the apparel for the Lacey PAC Adaptive Movement Center.
New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day presented a proclamation from the city to Herbert-Stephen in honor of the grand opening. Day was impressed with her drive and commitment to create a facility for people with special needs in the community.
“It’s a dream that you’ve had for a long time. And you’ve been able to express your vision to the entire community, and they want to support it. I would encourage everybody to continue to support it,” Day said.
The proclamation recognized the center first started as part of the Lacey PAC dance studio by offering sensory and movement classes for children and adults with developmental disabilities that focused on fun and spending time with their peers. With the addition of the adaptive movement center, it will allow for a secure environment for children and adults with special needs to choose their own activities and entertainment and feel accepted and fulfilled.
“Lacey is inspiring. She’s contagious. Because when you come here, her enthusiasm is just absolutely unbelievable,” said State Sen. Al Landis, who also complimented her staff.
Landis first visited the center over the summer before the transition was complete.
“I was just blown away. I don’t think I stopped talking about it for a week,” Landis said. “My district goes all the way from Wooster to Zanesville, and I want you and Lacey to be assured I will be talking about Lacey PAC from Wooster to Zanesville in my travels.”
Herbert-Stephen is thankful for the well wishes and support for the center.
“This is a new chapter. This is for every special needs child that hasn’t been heard,” Herbert-Stephen said.
The center will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week with separate hours each day for two age groups: 3-12 years and age 13 to adult.
The center also is accepting volunteers to help and enrolling students for activities. Call 330-340-5917 or email laceypac@yahoo.com.