The United Cerebral Palsy of Huntsville serves adults and children of all ages who have conditions including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and spectrum disorders, among several others. Last May, the organization was awarded a grant from the Vector Wealth Strategies Community Impact Fund. At that time, Jay Dryden, managing partner, would have never guessed that his relationship with UCP would shift from donor to customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jay\u2019s son, Axl, was born one month early. As his doctor noticed that Axl was not developing as quickly as he should have been, he recommended that Jay look into UCP\u2019s services. Ever since Axl\u2019s assessment with UCP, they have sent a therapist to the Dryden\u2019s home each week to help him with behavioral and physical therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUCP has been awesome, not only with Axl but with my wife Hilde and I,\u201d Jay said. \u201cWhen they began working with us, the improvements were almost instantly noticeable. I can see from one week to the next, he gets stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jay said he believes a key part of life is paying it forward by helping those around you who do not have everything that you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVector may have given the money, but now I\u2019m in the one in need for different reasons,\u201d Jay said. \u201cVector had more money than we needed, and UCP needed more than they had; then, we had no idea how to get our son over a hurdle, and they had the knowledge to help him. When you find yourself on the flip side of needing help and being able to help each other, it\u2019s a great feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UCP used Vector\u2019s grant to purchase assistive technology equipment for children, which is used for adaptive toys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdaptive toys are just like typical toys, but they are fit to meet a child\u2019s specific needs,\u201d Tracy Cieniewicz, development director of UCP, said. \u201cFor example, if a child wants a Tickle Me Elmo doll but doesn\u2019t have the motor skills to actually tickle Elmo like other children, the toys can be adapted so that they could tickle Elmo by using their feet or something else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UCP has a library of these adaptive and sensory toys for children to use. With Vector\u2019s grant, they were able to purchase over 50 toys. So far, they have presented about half of the toys to families at no charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just so appreciative of this grant,\u201d Cieniewicz said. \u201cThe ability to have these toys ready to go for the families to use has been wonderful. It\u2019s priceless to see the joy on a child\u2019s face when they can finally make a toy light up, make sounds or move. It\u2019s all because of the grant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n