MCHENRY, IL — A day school that specializes in providing therapy and educational services to children and young adults with autism has reopened after a sprinkler pipe burst during frigid cold temperatures earlier this month.
The price tag for the repairs at Alexander Leigh Center for Autism in McHenry — a non-profit, which has 48 students that hail from six different counties in Illinois — sits at $3 million, Pamela Yocius, executive director for the Alexander Leigh Center for Austin, told Patch Thursday.
And since insurance will not be able to cover all of that, including some of the tuition revenue lost during the forced two-week closure, the year-round school has set up a GoFundMeto help make ends meet and keep operations running through the year.
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“A loss of revenue in any amount as a non-profit is catastrophic,” Yocius said.
On Thursday, students returned to the school while repairs continued.
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The school was forced to close after a sprinkler pipe burst in two places on Jan. 15 during frigid cold temps. A local fire department was called to the school after alarms went off at the school, which was closed for the holiday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), Yocius said.
The burst pipe caused water to flood into half of the third floor. That water ran down into the second and first floors. Repairs are still underway on half of the 40,000-square-foot building daily school and therapy operations have temporarily been set up in the other half of the building.
“We are just squishing everybody where we can, and the other areas are blocked off,” Yocius said Thursday.
She said “it’s a little tight for everyone” but the school wanted to get back up and running as soon as possible. The school serves children from pre-kindergarten up through 22-year-old men and women who are diagnosed with moderate to severe autism.
During the two-week closure, many of the children’s parents were not able to work, Yocius said.
“These are students who could not just go to daycare. A lot of parents couldn’t go to work and a lot of our students thrive on schedules and consistency there been lot of difficulty for them at home in understanding why they couldn’t go to school,” Yocius said. “It’s been really hard on a lot of our families.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for costs insurance will not cover for the non-profit, which relies solely on donations and its tuition to cover its bills. For example, at least three days of tuition costs lost due to the flooding likely will not be covered by insurance, which totals $65,000, Yocius said.
As of Thursday, nearly $6,000 of the organization’s $132,000 goal has been raised.
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“We are grateful for the support we have gotten so far,” she said. “We are just really asking for what we really need to get us through this school year and please and thank you everyone who can help support us.”
As the school staff shifts to operate in much-closer quarters for the time-being, Yocuius expects the remainder of the repairs will be complete within two weeks, which will allow for the whole building to reopen.
This interested in donating can do so via GoFundMe.
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