VIDEO: Daycare Opens for Children with Special Needs

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- In the US 20.9 million families have members with at least one disability.

For many, that means one or both of the parents have to stay home to care for the child.

Fortunately, for families in the Golden Triangle that’s all about to change.

It’s the first of its kind in northeast Mississippi and it’s giving parents who have children with disabilities, all the relief they need.

“It has been such a sense of freedom for me to be able to do, what I need to do during the day, even if its just grocery shopping, or doing my job, whatever I need to do without her and knowing that she’s here and that she’s safe, it has been such a blessing,” says parent, Lindsey Gurley.

Parents like Lindsey and Jody Gurley of Columbus are overjoyed at the relief they are feeling thanks to Pedia Trust Daycare.

The Gurley’s adopted twin sisters when they were just newborns. At two months old, their one daughter Sadie was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

Since then, Lindsey has been her primary caretaker.

That is until Pedia Trust Columbus opened its doors.

It’s is a daycare center that specializes in the care and well being for children with disabilities.

“We provide skilled nursing care, they get all their therapy here, we have a teacher here, we have a lot of sensory integration here, that help with stimulation,” says Director of Pedia Trust Jessica Jeremiah.

“She gets therapy here as opposed to us having to travel to Starkville twice a week. we were having to travel to Starkville for four hours twice a week but now Kids Therapy Spot comes her,” says Jody Gurley.

Center Director Jessica Jeremiah has a special needs child and knows firsthand the struggle caring for children with special needs can be.

“A lot of our mothers are able to go back to work for the first time, they had no one who could take care of their children at home or they did have caregivers, they just weren’t reliable or dependable,” says Jeremiah.

The center’s goal is to educate and help where they can.

“We serve children in Starkville, Brooksville area, we go to West Point, we do provide transportation, so that helps out a lot of our families,” says Jeremiah.

“There’s always a vast amount of knowledeg coming out of this building that helps us as parents not only for Sadie, currently where she is but for planning for future, whenever she gets school age,” says Gurley.

For more information on all the center offers, click here.

Categories: Local News

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