Jacob's Ladder Will Offer Child Rehab Locally
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
For Kosciusko County, the closest clinics are in Fort Wayne, Plymouth, Goshen and South Bend. For some families, even the drive to one of those cities is too much.
Seeing a need in this county, Bazzoni is helping to bring Jacob’s Ladder, a non-profit clinic, to Warsaw.
Jacob’s Ladder will be at 3540 Commerce Drive, Warsaw, between Kmart and Big R. Renovations to the building are expected to be completed sometime next week.
During an interview Wednesday afternoon, Bazzoni said she’s been a physical therapist with First Steps for the past six years. First Steps helps children from birth to 3 years old. Each year in Kosciusko County, an average of 30 children age out of First Steps programming and move on to preschool special education.
But Bazzoni has seen a growing need in the community for intensive therapy for children beyond the age of 3. Local school systems’ therapists work to ensure the kids develop to the best of their ability for the classroom setting, she said, but that leaves some areas untouched.
As a physical therapist, Bazzoni has counseled parents when their children age out of First Steps. She has recommended they continue to take their child to rehab, but the closest places are about 45 minutes away. If they have to go several times, the time and gas adds up. Plus, once a child is in school all day, it becomes more difficult to take a child out of school to go to rehab.
“Some families have difficulties with that travel so they are not given the help they need. Those are the families that break my heart,” Bazzoni said.
Jacob’s Ladder in Warsaw will focus on three areas – physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech/language pathology.
“It can be speech, gross motor skills, fine motor skills such as learning to write their name or button their buttons, or other small movements of the hand,” she said. “Lots of our kids will have difficulty swallowing and handling textures. Those are not addressed in schools.”
Ever since she entered pediatrics, Bazzoni said she’s known about Jacob’s Ladder, since it’s well-known in Northwest Indiana.
The reason she approached Jacob’s Ladder was because she got online and started looking at various pediatric clinics in the state. For-profit pediatric hospitals in Indiana seem to struggle, while non-profits seem to grow, she said. Bazzoni contacted Jacob’s Ladder founder and director Mariann Frigo, and her story drew Bazzoni in.
Frigo is an occupational therapist. She has a son, Jacob, with Down Syndrome. When Jacob was 3, Frigo couldn’t find the help he needed in Porter County where they lived. She started Jacob’s Ladder to help her son and those like him.
“I started talking with her about how to do this,” Bazzoni said. “As I got online and started learning more about the clinic and its mission statement, it struck a chord with me.”
She also liked the clinic’s holistic approach. They want to meet the needs of the families not being met.
Jacob’s Ladder offers special programs like mini-camps and classes, which can be art, dance or social groups for older kids on the autistic spectrum.
“It gives them a lot of other opportunities. It can be a center where people can connect,” Bazzoni said.
Bazzoni said they have hired enough staff to open the clinic, which is tentatively scheduled for early November. More staff will have to be hired.
“We want to offer enough after-school hours. We don’t want parents to have to pull their kids out of school,” she said.
Jacob’s Ladder also will need volunteers. They will help at the front desk, do data entry or take care of the toys. [[In-content Ad]]The clinic has a board of directors in place who will oversee Jacob’s Ladder to make sure it raises the amount of support it needs, and to make sure the right financial decisions are made so it will be around for years to come, she said. The board also will help decide what programs to offer.
Board members include John Hall, Tom Johnson, Lois Neimer, Max Kinsey, Randy Polston, Alan Alderfer, Dr. Neeta Jain and Cindy Hepler.
The community support for Jacob’s Ladder has been overwhelming so far, Bazzoni said.
K21 Health Foundation and the Kosciusko County Community Foundation made it possible for Jacob’s Ladder to get started. She said they’ve also received support from individuals, churches, youth groups and student councils.
“It all adds up. It’s nice to feel that support from our community,” she continued.
Midwest Orthotics of South Bend is going to send one of their orthotists to the Warsaw Jacob’s Ladder at least twice a month to serve the children, she said.
“The benefit will be you get a collaboration between a therapist and orthotist to best meet the needs of the children,” she said.
Though it is a non-profit, Bazzoni said they still have to bill insurance and take co-pays, and families will still have deductibles to meet. However, billing insurance alone doesn’t meet the needs of the clinic, so to meet its needs it had to go non-profit.
She said they aren’t looking to make a profit, just to stay ahead and help meet the needs of the kids.
For more information, visit Jacob’s Ladder of Warsaw on Facebook at facebook.com/jacobsladderinwarsaw or jacobskids.org for the main organization.
There is no local phone number yet, but people may call the Valparaiso office at 219-764-4888. That office is putting people on the waiting list until the Warsaw office is up and running.
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For Kosciusko County, the closest clinics are in Fort Wayne, Plymouth, Goshen and South Bend. For some families, even the drive to one of those cities is too much.
Seeing a need in this county, Bazzoni is helping to bring Jacob’s Ladder, a non-profit clinic, to Warsaw.
Jacob’s Ladder will be at 3540 Commerce Drive, Warsaw, between Kmart and Big R. Renovations to the building are expected to be completed sometime next week.
During an interview Wednesday afternoon, Bazzoni said she’s been a physical therapist with First Steps for the past six years. First Steps helps children from birth to 3 years old. Each year in Kosciusko County, an average of 30 children age out of First Steps programming and move on to preschool special education.
But Bazzoni has seen a growing need in the community for intensive therapy for children beyond the age of 3. Local school systems’ therapists work to ensure the kids develop to the best of their ability for the classroom setting, she said, but that leaves some areas untouched.
As a physical therapist, Bazzoni has counseled parents when their children age out of First Steps. She has recommended they continue to take their child to rehab, but the closest places are about 45 minutes away. If they have to go several times, the time and gas adds up. Plus, once a child is in school all day, it becomes more difficult to take a child out of school to go to rehab.
“Some families have difficulties with that travel so they are not given the help they need. Those are the families that break my heart,” Bazzoni said.
Jacob’s Ladder in Warsaw will focus on three areas – physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech/language pathology.
“It can be speech, gross motor skills, fine motor skills such as learning to write their name or button their buttons, or other small movements of the hand,” she said. “Lots of our kids will have difficulty swallowing and handling textures. Those are not addressed in schools.”
Ever since she entered pediatrics, Bazzoni said she’s known about Jacob’s Ladder, since it’s well-known in Northwest Indiana.
The reason she approached Jacob’s Ladder was because she got online and started looking at various pediatric clinics in the state. For-profit pediatric hospitals in Indiana seem to struggle, while non-profits seem to grow, she said. Bazzoni contacted Jacob’s Ladder founder and director Mariann Frigo, and her story drew Bazzoni in.
Frigo is an occupational therapist. She has a son, Jacob, with Down Syndrome. When Jacob was 3, Frigo couldn’t find the help he needed in Porter County where they lived. She started Jacob’s Ladder to help her son and those like him.
“I started talking with her about how to do this,” Bazzoni said. “As I got online and started learning more about the clinic and its mission statement, it struck a chord with me.”
She also liked the clinic’s holistic approach. They want to meet the needs of the families not being met.
Jacob’s Ladder offers special programs like mini-camps and classes, which can be art, dance or social groups for older kids on the autistic spectrum.
“It gives them a lot of other opportunities. It can be a center where people can connect,” Bazzoni said.
Bazzoni said they have hired enough staff to open the clinic, which is tentatively scheduled for early November. More staff will have to be hired.
“We want to offer enough after-school hours. We don’t want parents to have to pull their kids out of school,” she said.
Jacob’s Ladder also will need volunteers. They will help at the front desk, do data entry or take care of the toys. [[In-content Ad]]The clinic has a board of directors in place who will oversee Jacob’s Ladder to make sure it raises the amount of support it needs, and to make sure the right financial decisions are made so it will be around for years to come, she said. The board also will help decide what programs to offer.
Board members include John Hall, Tom Johnson, Lois Neimer, Max Kinsey, Randy Polston, Alan Alderfer, Dr. Neeta Jain and Cindy Hepler.
The community support for Jacob’s Ladder has been overwhelming so far, Bazzoni said.
K21 Health Foundation and the Kosciusko County Community Foundation made it possible for Jacob’s Ladder to get started. She said they’ve also received support from individuals, churches, youth groups and student councils.
“It all adds up. It’s nice to feel that support from our community,” she continued.
Midwest Orthotics of South Bend is going to send one of their orthotists to the Warsaw Jacob’s Ladder at least twice a month to serve the children, she said.
“The benefit will be you get a collaboration between a therapist and orthotist to best meet the needs of the children,” she said.
Though it is a non-profit, Bazzoni said they still have to bill insurance and take co-pays, and families will still have deductibles to meet. However, billing insurance alone doesn’t meet the needs of the clinic, so to meet its needs it had to go non-profit.
She said they aren’t looking to make a profit, just to stay ahead and help meet the needs of the kids.
For more information, visit Jacob’s Ladder of Warsaw on Facebook at facebook.com/jacobsladderinwarsaw or jacobskids.org for the main organization.
There is no local phone number yet, but people may call the Valparaiso office at 219-764-4888. That office is putting people on the waiting list until the Warsaw office is up and running.
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