Because Space Coast Early Intervention Center is always breaking new ground in the early childhood development field, we are often in the news. Many local news sources feature SCEIC on a regular basis.







Nonprofits Wish List,
by John A. Torres

Not every agency can boast a World Series hero among its benefactors. While Boston Red Sox knuckleballer and Melbourne resident Tim Wakefield runs a charity golf event yearly to benefit the Space Coast Early Intervention Center, the agency still seeks help from the United Way.

The center serves 76 children. About half suffer from a variety of disabilities and are between the ages of one and six.

This year, it asked for one more teacher. Cost: $30,000 a year.

"We are looking to relocate and buy a building, so every penny is significant," Executive Director Sally Shinn said. "It is important we do everything we can."

The center must vacate its present location by June, 2007, when thy lease expires. They have started a funding campaign for a new home.

One of the center's main features is pairing "role model" children - who don't have disabilities - with a disabled child.

"The program there is so important not only for children with disabilities but for role models like my daughter," said parent Heather Eising, who also has a son with cerebral palsy in the program.



Popular preschool chooses moving over downsizing, by John A. Torres

Just a few months after going to the Space Coast Early Intervention Center, 2-year-old Shelby Stombaugh's developmental delay was all but a memory.

Now, three years later, the preschool center that has helped more than 560 kids with various learning and physical disabilities - as well as kids without special needs - is in need of a new home.

"The school is great," said Shelby's mother, Christa Stombaugh. :They have great teachers that really care about the kids. I've seen it grow bigger, more and more students, over the years."



The center, located in the new Hope Building on Babcock Street, recently was given a three-year lease by Health First, but it also asked that the center use fewer than the current 6,400 square feet.

The center serves 76 children with another 105 on the waiting list. So, the center's director, Sally Shinn, was faced with a big decision.

"We're at a real crossroads," she said, "We could have stayed comfortable and decided to serve less little ones or we could start looking for a building."

Shinn decided it was time for a move.

Lucky for her and the children she helps serve that she met retired developer Gary Cunningham at a Boy Scouts fundraiser. He heard about her plight and began making phone calls and mailing letters.

"You can't help but to fall in love with the kids when you walk into this place," Cunningham said. "The businessman in me said, 'I can help.' There are some needy children here. I'm retired, and I can afford to help them."



Cunningham joined forces with John Yates, a Space Coast Early Intervention Center board member, to find land, a building and, of course, funding.

"With Gary involved, we see a light at the end of the tunnel," Yates said. The center is funded in part by fees paid by parents, grants and fund-raising efforts. During the years, Melbourne resident Tim Wakefield - a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox - has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the center.

The agency operated for more than 14 years as a nonprofit preschool and therapeutic center for children with and without special needs. The children range in age from 15 months to 6 years old, and there is usually one teacher for every four to five students.

Shinn said it is vital for children with special needs to have their challenges addressed very early on in a school-like atmosphere.

"They tell us that a child won't be able to walk or talk and we say, 'Oh yes they can,'" Shinn said.

Teacher Cedana Pittman started out at the center as a high school volunteer. He was later hired part-time, then became the janitor, then worked his way to teacher's assistant before becoming the lead teacher.

"I walked up the ladder," he laughs, as his students vie for his attention. "I stay because of the kids. They are wonderful."

Pittman said with more space he would be able to have more work stations as well as offer a science center.

Shinn said there are no hard feelings with Health First.

"I understand that they have several programs they would like to expand and they helped us out tremendously when we started out," she said.

Shinn, whose office is slightly bigger than a closet, said the center could use 10,000 square feet of space. That would enable them to take some on the waiting list.

"This is just about helping children," Cunningham said, adding he has nine children and 11 grandchildren. "My job now is to raise a bunch of money and find some land."

Cunningham sent more than 200 letters asking for help - but no money yet.

"I'll hassle everyone later on for that," he said.